Kaplan looking to get off to quick start

KAPLAN — Kaplan High head football coach Cory Brodie wants to see how his team responds to its first loss of the season when the Pirates travel to face Beau Chene on Friday, and he’d like to see Kaplan get off to a better start than they have in most games to this point, he said.
“The biggest thing I want to see this week is how we respond to a loss,” Brodie said. “We went 3-0, and once we lost we want to just tighten up some things and make sure we get back to understanding the main goal.”
Kaplan fell behind Rayne early this past week, trailing 13-8 after one quarter, 19-8 at halftime and 25-8 early in the second half before rallying to within 3 points, 25-22, by the end of the game.
The Pirates drove to within scoring range early but dropped a TD pass, Brodie said, and Rayne responded with a touchdown drive, then another touchdown. The Wolves then broke off a 94-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.
“Really our only success in the first half was we through a 50-something yard touchdown pass to Daylon (Landry) that made it 13-8, and they came out and scored again and made it 19-8 at halftime,” Brodie said. “We came out in the second half and had a personal foul on the first drive that caused us to punt inside our 5. We fumbled the snap and they scored on the next play. After that we kind of took control. They had 29 yards of offense in the second half.”
Kaplan mistakes contributed to the loss, he said.
“We had four turnovers, a mishandled punt,” Brodie said. “We got inside the red zone twice and didn’t score. And catching the football — if we catch a couple of (additional) passes, I like our chances. But that’s kind of the way football goes. To keep it to 3 (points) with all those mistakes, we had a lot of positives on film in the second half. They kind of whipped our butt in the first, and we took it to them in the second half. Just a slow start.”
Brodie said that Landry, with the long TD reception and a team-high 60 yards rushing in the game, is playing well. Landry leads the parish with 154 receiving yards, a rarity for a Kaplan team that doesn’t pass the ball a lot (36 pass attempts on the season). Landry also has 403 yards on the ground, fourth in the parish.
“Leading the parish in receiving yards at running back is pretty good,” Brodie said. “Dane Frick had a long run to keep us in the game. Hayes Broussard played every snap, offense and defense. Those guys really stepped up.”
Beau Chene is a different team than it was last year, Brodie said, less of a wide open offense. Against Abbeville, BC had a few big plays but only scored one touchdown. Brodie wants his team to be able to prevent that one big play from snowballing into three or four big plays.
“They’re a little more ground-and-pound, (with the quarterback) under center, but I think this game, honestly, is more about us than them,” he said.
And for the Pirates, that means getting off to a good start.
“Besides the LaGrange game, the first quarter has kind of been our Achilles heel, I think,” the coach said. “We’re just changing some things up even in pregame leading up to the game to see if that makes a difference. We’re planning to take it one drive at a time.”
Beau Chene seems to be dealing with injuries, too. But the Gators do have some big-play potential.
“When you’re playing a 4A school they’re always going to have a few guys that can go,” Brodie said.