Richwood goes big to beat Kaplan, 15-8, in Class 3A semifinals

KAPLAN – When they needed it the most, Richwood’s Rams took a sheet out of Kaplan’s play book.

The visiting Rams used a spread attack for much of Friday’s Class 3A semifinal contest at Ed Douglas Stadium, and came up short too often for head coach Robert Arvie’s liking.

So on its two final drives, Richwood often went to a full-house T-formation with Ashley Holmes replacing throwing quarterback Joseph Smith, and the result was a late touchdown that provided the Rams with a 15-8 win over the Pirates and a trip to next week’s Superdome Classic.

“They pretty much played our game,” said a disappointed Kaplan coach Tank Lotief, whose team was eliminated in the state semifinals for the second straight year and is still looking for the first title game in the school’s history. “They just stayed on the field a lot longer on offense than we did. It’s harder to play defense than offense.”

The bigger Richwood squad used that size advantage in those climactic drives, right after Kaplan’s Mac Thibeaux had capped a mammoth 92-yard Pirate march with an 18-yard scoring run with 3:51 left in the third period. Rhett Menard then bulled his way into the end zone after a penalty provided an even-shorter two-point try, and the hosts had an 8-7 lead.

The Rams came right back with their own impressive march, keeping possession for 17 plans and marching to the Kaplan 6 before running back Anthony Watson was stopped one yard short on a fourth-down swing pass.

“I’m just glad we were able to come back and answer that drive,” said Arvie, a former UL Ragin’ Cajun tight end in the late 1980s. “Even though we didn’t score, we got maybe five or six first downs to just calm everything down.”

The Pirates took over, but could not move and had to punt, and Richwood took over right at midfield. Watson broke a delay for 27 of those yards on first down and from then on it was Holmes and Watson running behind the Rams’ huge offensive front and senior linebackers Deione and Deivone Reed in the backfield as lead blockers.

Seven plays into the drive, Watson broke through a hole on the right side and went the final two yards on a fourth-and-goal for what turned out to be the winning touchdown. Holmes bulled his way for the conversion for the final tally.

“They didn’t do much different than what we thought,” Lotief said. “They just outweighed us so much. We held them to 15 points, and we had our chances. The fourth-and-goal, they got theirs and we didn’t. That happens.”

Eighth-seeded Richwood (11-3) will meet West Feliciana, a 45-26 winner over Jennings, in next Friday’s Class 3A title game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Kaplan (10-4), at No. 5 the highest-seeded team remaining in the Class 3A bracket, saw an eight-game win streak come to an end. The Pirates had fallen in similar close-game fashion to Amite in last year’s semifinal round, and appeared headed to the same fate when the Rams had two lengthy first-half drives and the Pirates lost a couple of defenders to early injuries. Starting quarterback Trae Case was also banged up while playing on the defensive side of the ball but still took every snap.

“We ended up playing a lot of guys there (on defense) that were just done,” Lotief said, referencing the huge difference in offensive plays. Richwood’s offense, which had averaged 28 points per game over its last five outings, ran a total of 66 plays to Kaplan’s mere 34 – 32 rushes and two passes.

“We knew with the power game that we should be able to get five or six at a time,” Arvie said. “I gave the spread a chance, but we kept driving it and then stalling out when we got it inside the 30.”

One of those stall-outs came on the first possession after halftime, when Pirate returner Trevor Boutte was shaken loose from the ball and Benny Davis recovered for the Rams at the Pirate 32. But eight plays netted only two net yards and a punt pinned Kaplan at its own 8.

Mac Thibeaux started finding holes, though, and a 33-yard burst by Matt Roden took it to the Richwood 25. On second down, Thibeaux had the second-longest run of his 116-yard night with his 18-yard ramble.

“Not a lot of teams have driven it like that on us,” Arvie said. “We had them pinned inside the 10 and they got a score. But we were able to come back and answer and play our type of game.”

Richwood had a first-quarter drive stopped when Smith’s third-down pass was intercepted near the goal line by Pirate defender Logan Ray, but the Rams forced a punt and then drove 44 yards in eight plays before Holmes went across on a one-yard quarterback sneak for a 7-0 lead 6:39 before halftime.

The Pirates came right back, helped by a 15-yard facemask penalty on the kickoff return and a second-down 33-yard counter by Thibeaux. The Pirates eventually had a first-and-goal at the eight, but three plays gained six yards and Thibeaux was stopped short on a fourth-and-goal from the Ram 2 in the final minute before halftime.

“Sometimes it comes down to that,” Lotief said. “They had a lot of third-down conversions and we didn’t.”

Richwood 15, Kaplan 8
RICH 0 7 0 8 — 15
KAP 0 0 8 0 — 8

Second Quarter
RICH – Ashley Holmes 1 run (Basheen Hutcherson kick)
Third Quarter
KAP – Mac Thibeaux 18 run (Rhett Menard run)
Fourth Quarter
RICH – Anthony Watson 2 run (Holmes run)

STATISTICS RICH KAP
First Downs 17 7
Rushing Yards 173 193
Passing Yards 85 0
Total Yards 258 193
Comp-Att-Int 10-17-1 0-2-1
Punts 2-28.5 3-32.7
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 12-84 6-71

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – RICH: Anthony Watson 23-100 1 TD, Ashley Holmes 7-36 1 TD, Marquis Hodge 10-28, Hidari Ceasar 1-18, Deivone Reed 1-0, Joseph Smith 5-minus 5, team 2-minus 4. KAP: Mac Thibeaux 18-116 1 TD, Matt Roden 4-48, Drake Abshire 3-16, Rhett Menard 6-13, Trae Case 1-0.
PASSING – RICH: Smith 10-17-1, 85 yds. KAP: Case 0-2-1.
RECEIVING – RICH: Zion Stokes 4-39, Geor’quarius Spivey 3-24, Benny Davis 1-8, Watson 1-7, Ceasar 1-7.
Records: RICH 11-3, KAP 10-4. Next: Richwood vs. West Feliciana in Class 3A championship game Friday.