Wildcat Playoff Run Comes To An End As Kaplan Takes Advantage Of Three St. James Turnovers

By Jim Henderson

The St. James Wildcat football team saw its season come to an end when the visiting Kaplan Pirates registered a 39-22 Class 3A state quarterfinal playoff victory played at Wildcat Stadium in Vacherie.

The No. 5 Pirates (10- 3) advance to the semifinals and will host No. 6 Richwood on Friday. A win over Richwood will give Kaplan its first trip to the Superdome for the Class 3A championship game. Meanwhile the No. 4 Wildcats ended the year with a 9-4 mark.

“They outplayed us along the offensive and defensive lines,” said St. James Coach Robert Valdez. “We knew they (Kaplan) put together long drives and limit your possessions with ball-control. They have a real good program and ran stuff that we normally don’t see.”

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