Pirates prepare for round two

With the 46-6 drumming over the Mansfield Wolverines in the rearview mirror, the Kaplan Pirate now have to prepare for a new foe, the Richwood Rams.

“It was a good win last Friday night,” Kaplan Head Coach Stephen Lotief said. “This is a new week, though. We have to prepare to take on Richwood and forget all about last weekend.”

The Rams are ranked number six in the power ranking, which means on paper this match-up should be a little tougher for the Pirates.

Richwood enters this game with a 7-3 record and are coming off of a 33-0 win over Bogalusa.

The Rams are a mature group with 31 seniors.

“They are a good team,” Lotief said. “They play good defense and they run the ball well. We are going to have to make sure we play good assignment football.”

Defense is Richwood’s specialty.

They have pitched three shutouts this season on defense while Richwood’s offense has been scoring points. They have scored 30-plus points three times this year.

They are led by Rams’ quarterback David Allen, who has rushed for 600 yards and thrown for 600-plus yards. The Rams come into the game averaging 200 yards on the ground and 70 yards in the air.

Good assignment football seems to be the phrase of the week for the Pirates.

Kaplan starting linebacker A.J. Perro shared the same sentiment as his coach.

“They (Rams) have some speed,” Perro said. “We are just going to have to hustle, make sure that we sure up our tackling and play good assignment football.”

KHS starting running back Tyson Broussard, coming off of a huge game against Mansfield, where he rushed for 206 rushing yards on only 22 carries, provides a little insight on the Richwood Rams.

“They remind me a lot of Mansfield,” Broussard said. “They are really quick and run the ball really well. They are really sure tacklers, but if we play the game we know we can play, we have a real shot at this.”

First year Rams head coach Robert Arvie feels he will have his hands full this Friday night.

“They (Kaplan) have really good running backs,” Arvie said. “We are going to have to make sure that we tackle well and pay good attention to who has the ball because all of their backs can hurt us. They are also solid on the defensive line.”

The struggle for both Kaplan and Richwood coaches is not the game planning, but keeping the kids focused on the task at hand.

It has been four years since the Pirates have won a playoff game, and it has only been one year less for the Rams.

Both Avrie and Lotief had the same concerns heading into this game.

“We have just been teaching one game at a time,” Arvie said. “That is always easier said than done though. It has been a while since we won and trying to keep this kids focused on this game has been a challenge, but I think they are ready.”

“All of the kids that are seniors now were freshmen the last time they won,” Lotief said. “So everyone is excited about a playoff victory, but we still have a lot of work left and we won’t let them think that one win is good enough.”

For both coaches the name of the game this weekend will be ball control and good sound defense.

Both Lotief and Avrie said if they can limit the mistakes and control the clock, their team has a better than fair chance of winning this football game.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. this Friday night at Richwood, south of Monroe. It will be the first time the Pirates play on artificial turf this season.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor