Kaplan – The Breaux Bridge High School football team is still trying to find its offensive rhythm, and the little things are still slowing the Tigers down, head coach Tyler Pierce said after BBHS dropped a 35-0 road decision to the Kaplan Pirates on Friday.
The Tigers compiled only 94 total yards in the loss, including 32 yards passing on a 3-for-15 day, and 62 yards rushing on 23 carries.
BBHS had gotten into an offensive groove in a 28-27 win over Vermilion Catholic, but has since fallen to St. Martinville and Kaplan with only one touchdown over those two games.
“We’re still trying to find our groove and our identity,” Pierce said. “Week 2 we kind of felt as though we played a little faster and things just fell into place where we looked like we were in our comfort zone. For the past two weeks we just feel like we’ve been out of rhythm.
“We go back and we watch film on Saturdays and it’s the one block here, the one penalty there. It’s still just having to get back to comfortable in our skin.”
The Tigers are having to grow from week to week in an offense they only started learning this summer after the hiring of a new offensive coordinator, Benjamin Gonzales.
“We’re only three months into this offense,” Pierce said. “He was almost a mid-tolate June hire. It’s a totally different offense. We felt like we were ahead of schedule when we walked off the field Week 2.”
But in-game adjustments by defenses sometimes leads to problems for the Tigers as they learn the offense. “They watch film the past two weeks and understand it’s not like we’re reinventing the wheel, and neither is the defense, we just have to trust what we see and do what we’re coached to do,” Pierce said. “And that’s just reps.”
Baylon Champagne led the Tigers with 28 yards on 10 rushes and Isaiah LeBlanc added eight carries for 22 yards. Shawnee Lewis added 12 yards on five runs.
“We’re still getting the right personnel to make sure that we can present the best offense and multiple threats instead of just saying we’re going to throw the ball to Isaiah or we’re going to run the ball with Baylon, because it’s a lot on those two,” Pierce said. “Shawnee Lewis has had a little shoulder problem, but he’s getting back to where he should be fine and should be able to carry a little more load. We’re going to probably go a little more with Baylon and a rotation of running backs where each back gives us a little different flavor.”
With Lewis limited because of injury, LeBlanc lined up at running back with Champagne at tailback, but that just led to Kaplan loading the box with defenders to stop the run, Pierce said.
“We weren’t able to really get them out of that box unless we took Isaiah out of there,” Pierce said. “If it was easy, you could change overnight, but that’s just not the way it works.”
Outside linebacker Nelson Borel led the tigers with 4.5 tackles and Noah Soloman had 3.5 tackles. Dakowen Celestine and Percy Moultrie had three tackles each.
Pierce said the players are still enthusiastic and playing hard. The team is working on cutting down on mistakes and trusting what they see on the field.
Pierce said BBHS has been forced to use players on both offense and defense. Moultrie, a sophomore who is a key defensive lineman, is also playing guard and tight end on offense. Borel, a tight end, is becoming one of the better defenders as well. Champagne is the team’s top linebacker but played some on the defensive line in addition to carrying the running load on offense.
“Originally we were trying to rest these guys and try to get it to where we don’t have to rely on our best players on each level (playing both offense and defense), but we’re just figuring out that if they have to play the whole game, they have to play the whole game, and we just have to make sure they’re in good enough condition to do that,” Pierce said. “A lot of these guys are being asked to do a lot of things, but we’re going to get there.”
The Tigers (1-3) play their homecoming game on Friday against Northlake Christian (12).
“Hopefully being back home and knowing that our best game this year has been at home, will build a lot of confidence,” Pierce said. “I’m not a fan of homecoming but I think it’s a good week for homecoming because it gives you a little bit of flavor throughout the week (instead of it being more of the same old thing).”
