Kaplan to face top-notch running back in Winnfield

WINNFIELD — The Kaplan Pirates and the Winnfield Tigers’ game tonight will feature two of the top running backs in Class 3A.
The No. 9 seed Pirates (8-3) travel two hours today to battle the No. 25 Winnfield Tigers (7-4).
This season the Tigers have only played four games at home and are 4-0 at home.
Winnfield earned a second round game by getting by South Beauregard, 35-34.
The Tigers, No. 7 seed, like Kaplan, have one main rusher.
J-Anthony Foster has been the bread and butter for the Tigers. He stands 6-foot and weighs 215 pounds
He has rushed for 1,080 yards on 141 carries. That gives him an average of 8 yards a carry. Foster has scored 22 out of 28 rushing touchdowns in games.
Last week he crossed the end zone three times One game this year he scored five touchdowns and two other games, he scored four touchdowns.
Kaplan head coach Stephen Lotief compares Foster as a blend of Erath High’s Elijah Mitchell and Kaplan running back Julius Johnson.
“He is a lot like Elijah because he can run around you,” said Lotief. “But he can also run over you (like Johnson). He has really good speed.”
In last week’s win, Foster rushed for 170 yards on 29 carries. Each time he touched the football, he averaged 8 yards a carry.
While on paper, Foster looks like the only offensive threat; Lotief said that is far from the truth. The Tigers have plenty of other weapons they can use to beat Kaplan, he said.
The Kaplan game plan is stop Foster first.
The Tigers have a passing game that they have used much. In 11 games, 6-foot-2, 175 pound quarterback Trenton Dill completes an average of two passes a game. He has completed 27 out of 62 passes for 483 yards and seven touchdowns.
Last week he completed three passes for minus 8 yards.
His top receiver has been 6-2, 167-pound Charles Williams. Williams has 11 catches for 266 yards. Three out of his 11 catches are for touchdowns.
Winnfield’s defense is made up of size.
They have a 6-3, 210 pound cornerback, Charles Williams, who has 57 tackles. The other is J.T. Riser, who is 6 foot and weighs 185 pounds. He has 43 total tackles.
Cody Jordan (5-10, 195 pounds) is a middle linebacker with 80 tackles.
On the defensive line for the Tigers, look for 6-foot-2, 290-pound LaTerrion Green to try and plug up some holes. Green has 31 tackles.
The Pirates, like the Tigers, enjoy running the foot ball. Johnson averages 28 carries and 166 yards a game. He has a career high 1,833 yards this year.
The Pirates, behind Johnson, come into tonight’s game rushing for an average of 319 yards and 40 yards passing a game.
Kaplan is happy to have back its No. 2 rusher - Grant Frick. Frick sat out for half the season with a broken collar bone. He returned against Brusly last week and rushed for a season-high 167 yards. On the year, he now has 522 yards on 72 carries. He is averaging seven yards a carry.
When Frick is in the lineup, Kaplan has a wining record of 3-2.
On defense for Kaplan, strong safety John Broussard has 43 tackles.
Leading the defensive unit are free safety Trey Case (58 total), and defender Daniel Lotief (51 total) corner back Payton Gaspard (45 total yards).