Kaplan, Erath running backs battling it out for top rusher in parish

Kaplan’s Julius Johnson is making a push to catch Erath High’s Elijah Mitchell.
Johnson rushed for 211 yards last week against Berwick, which was the most yards rushed in the parish and the second most in Acadiana.
His 211 yards pushes him over the 1,000 yard mark for the second straight time in two years. Johnson, who rushed for 1,600 yards last year, has rushed for 1,118 yards and scored eight touchdowns.
Johnson is trailing Mitchell by only 40 yards.
The year, Mitchell has rushed for 1,158 yards with still three games to go. It is the third year in a row that Mitchell has rushed for 1,000 yards.
He is carrying an impressive 11 yards per carry average. Johnson, on the other hand, is averaging 6 yards a carry.
Erath’s Scott Moore moved into third place in rushing yards after he ran for 140 yards last Friday. Moore (71-689) is averaging 10 yards a carry.
The top rusher for North Vermilion is its quarterback Dade Dieterich (72-526- 7 TDs). Dieterich is also the top rushing quarterback in the parish.
Speaking of quarterback, Hunter Frith of VC is on his way to throw for more than 3,000 yards for the second straight year.
Frith has completed 50 percent of his passes (119 out of 210 yards for 2,176 yards.
Like Mitchell in the rushing department, Frith has thrown for 25 touchdowns. For every five passes Frith completes, it is for a touchdown.
Frith’s four receivers lead the parish in yards.
Tyler Derouen has 36 catches for 746 yards and six touchdowns. He is averaging 21 yards a catch.
Teammate Payton Trahan is averaging 13 yards a catch (31-407-6 TDs), while Devren Constantine (23 catches for 456 yards) leads the team with 10 touchdowns.
In scoring, Mitchell has 144 points, making it hard for anyone to catch him. The junior has rushed for 20 touchdowns, scored two on kickoffs and ran in three 2-point conversions.
The battle is for second place between VC’s Tyler Derouen (82 points) and Johnson (89 points).
Kaplan’s quarterback Jade Herpin got on the scoring leader board this week after scoring 12 points against Berwick. On the season he has 18 points.

Player Team Attempts Yards TDs
1. Elijah Mitchell Erath 105 1,158 23
2. Julius Johnson Kaplan 197 1,118 8
3. Scott Moore Erath 71 689 8
4. Oliver Nunez Delcambre 92 609 4
5. Dade Dieterich NVHS 72 526 7
6. Matt Johnson Abbeville 64 439 9
7. Dylan Dent NVHS 116 429 6
9. Kalix Broussard VC 72 372 3
8. Grant Frick Kaplan 58 355 5
10. Tyler Derouen VC 44 324 6
11.Kavon Brown Abbeville 56 330 3
12.Ben LeBlanc Erath 42 299 2