Notre Dame upends Kaplan for 6-3A crown

CROWLEY – The setup was again hyped from most every angle. The result was the same as the last time Notre Dame and Kaplan met for a district championship: All Pios!
Notre Dame won its eighth straight league title with a convincing 35-6 win over the Pirates Friday at Gardiner Stadium. The Pios bring home the trophy for the 15th time in 18 seasons under head coach Lewis Cook.
“The kids deserve everything they have accomplished. They put so much into each season, from the offseason conditioning to the summer workouts and then every day at practice. We may have been a little nervous to start because they didn’t want to be the team not to get a trophy, but I know it meant a lot to them and I’m excited for these guys.”
The Pios defense pretty much laid down the law on the first Kaplan possession. Pirates running back Julius Johnson, who had rushed for over eight hundred yards this season, was held to no gain on first down with Logan LaGrange and Matt Hanks teaming for the stop. On second down Trey Vautrot and Shea Zaunbrecher sandwiched Johnson after a one yard gain. A third down pass attempt went incomplete when Conner Kirsch pressured the Kaplan QB into a hurried throw.
Notre Dame took over after a Kaplan punt and marched 51 yards in eight plays for a 7-0 lead. Lance Bertrand ran it in from three yards with 3:40 to play in the quarter.
Two plays later, Conner Kirsch was in the Kaplan backfield again, sacking QB Jade Herpin and forcing a fumble recovered by Jake Reiners at the Pirates 23 yard line. On first down, Pios QB Brad Stoma launched a pass to Boedy Borill toward the left goal line pylon. Borill made a stretched out diving catch to increase the Pios lead to 14-0.
Apparently sensing the game was slipping away, on the ensuing possession Kaplan converted a fourth and three from its 27 yard line. An end around for 30 yards by Justin Stoute got the ball to the Pios 25 and on third down QB Herpin scrambled away from pressure for a 23 yard touchdown. A 2-point conversion failed and the Pios led 14-6 after the 80 yard Pirates drive.
“We are an aggressive bunch on defense and every now and then something opens up,” added coach Cook. “We put pressure on him in the pocket, but the quarterback scrambled out for the touchdown. We had a chance to make a play when he came through but didn’t make the tackle.”
Things got a little crazy in the second quarter, beginning with Pios QB Brad Stoma being stripped of the ball after a 24 yard run to the Kaplan 24. Another drive ended when a fourth down Stoma pass was intercepted at the Kaplan one.
“There was a little something extra in this ball game, and we were a little over anxious sometimes,” added Cook. “We had some good plays on offense, but we hurt ourselves. When you have second and twelve or second and fifteen, it makes life a lot tougher. We were trying a little too hard at times and got a couple of blocks in the back. We have to do a better job of limiting mistakes. You just have to be smarter, but it wasn’t because of lack of effort.”
With two minutes to play in the half, Logan Lagrange, who led the Pios defense with eight tackles, forced a fumble with another crushing tackle in the Kaplan backfield. Jake Reiners recovered at the Kaplan 20 yard line.
Brad Stoma ran for twelve yards on first down and three plays later scored from the three, but the play was called back for a penalty. From the seven, Stoma got the call again and took it around the right side for a touchdown with twenty seconds left until halftime.
“We walked in easy the first time, but had a motion penalty,” noted Cook. “I called timeout and told them we had to do a better job of executing. We ran the exact same play and they ran it in again.”
Notre Dame went to halftime with a 21-6 lead after defensively holding Kaplan to just three yards a play, but with some concern for Cook and his staff over three turnovers and wasted opportunities.
“We were hurting ourselves with penalties on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, they made a couple of plays and had the one drive. You figure they are going to put a drive together because they are a good football team, so, for the most part, we did pretty well.”
Kaplan had a chance to get back into the game with the second half kickoff, but the Pios defense would have none of that. Three plays and punt set the Pios up at the ND 43.
Notre Dame went back to the power running game and got a 19 yard run up the gut from Ivy Paul Robichaux on first down. Damon Comeaux carried three times for eight yards and Lance Bertrand plowed for six yards on fourth and two. Bertrand got ten on the next play and after another penalty, Stoma completed a nine yard pass to Borill on second and 17.
On third and eight at the Kaplan 12, Stoma faked up the middle, stared right and looked back up the middle for tight end Ethan Smith, who had released up the left harsh marks. Smith grabbed the pass inside the five and walked in to cap a 10 play, 57 yard drive that ate up 4:38 on the clock and put the Pios ahead 28-6.
“We went with two tight ends and kind of gave them a different look,” explained Cook. “We wanted to come out and establish the run early in the second half. I told them at the half that these guys are not going to go away. You are going to have to put them away and that is only going to happen with us being physical and going after them. They did a good job of that on both sides of the ball.”
Kaplan got just four yards on three plays and was forced to again punt on the next series. The Pirates had gained over 320 yards in seven straight wins, but Notre Dame held the Pirates to just 135 total yards on the night. How dominant was that? Well, Kaplan put 80 yards in the book on its 10 play scoring drive and 58 yards were gained on 12 plays against Pios reserves in the last possession of the night. In 21 other plays against the defensive starters, Kaplan had minus three yards.
Notre Dame added one final score before the reserves took over, driving 43 yards in nine plays. Bertrand ran for gains of 5, 8 and 9 yards. Joe Faulk had runs of 10, 9 and 4 yards and Brad Stoma hit Boedy Borill for an 18 yard TD on the first play of the fourth quarter. The junior receiver drove the corner straight back to the goal line and cut left to the sideline for the score.
“They were playing off of him all night and lining up on his inside,” Cook noted. “That’s why he turned the guy around on that corner route.”
Dustin Reiners added his fifth extra point of the night for the 35-6 final total as the teams exchanged possessions to run off the final eleven minutes of the game.
The Pios spread 267 rushing yards around eight ball carriers with Lance Bertrand and Damon Comeaux leading the attack. Bertrand gained 67 yards with a score and Comeaux had 66 yard. Brad Stoma ran for 63 yards and a Td and completed 8 of 12 passes for 93 yards and 3 touchdowns. Boedy Borill caught four passes for 49 yards and 2 scores.
Defensively, the Pios logged eight sacks, seven tackles for losses and forced and recovered two fumbles. The Pios held Kaplan to just eight first downs and only three of eleven third down conversions.
Notre Dame appears to be locked in as the #4 seed in the select playoffs and would earn a first round bye. A loss by Parkview is expected to drop the Eagles from 5 to 7 and elevate either E.D White or DeLaSalle as a probable second round opponent.
“There were a couple of games that could affect two and three and five through seven,” summed up Cook. “One of those was a Saturday game, so we will find out Sunday the final bracket, but it looks like four will be our seed.”