Pine moved down the playoff road this past Fruday night as the Raiders defeated the #8 Kaplan Pirates at Ed Douglas Memorial Stadium at Kaplan High School in southwest Louisiana.
Technically, it was an upset, with Pine seeded #9.
But for the many Pine faithful who made the long drive to Kaplan, the Raiders were never the underdog in this game. They were in control from the beginning.
Pine took a 14-0 lead at halftime and held on in the second half to pull out a strong 21-6 win that now sends them to the state Division III quarter-finals for the second consecutive year.
Last year, Pine fell to Sterlington in the quarter-finals. This year, the Raiders will play #1 seed St. James at St. James’ home stadium in Vacherie.
In the Kaplan game, Pine wide receiver D. J. Garrett was the offensive and defensive standout as he caught seven passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns.
“What a game DJ Garrett had with two touchdown catches and three interceptions,” marveled Pine head coach Bradley Seal.
“He is in the top five in the state in catches and has ten interceptions on the year,” Seal added.
Garrett’s offensive fireworks started midway through the first quarter when he caught a 35-yard pass from Pine quarterback Trey Knight and made it to the Kaplan one-yard-line. Knight then flew across the goal line and Pine took a 7-0 lead.
The score stayed at 7-0 in favor of Pine until near the end of the first half. Knight was sacked on fourth down, giving Kaplan a first and ten situation at their own 38-yard line.
But the Pirates fumbled the football and Pine quickly recovered, giving them the ball back deep in Kaplan’s territory. On the second play of Pine’s drive, Knight connected with Garrett from 30 yards out for a touchdown, giving Pine a 14-0 lead with only a minute left to go before halftime.
Garrett wasn’t through. He hit paydirt in the fourth quarter after Knight passed to him for another touchdown, giving Pine a 21-0 lead.
The game was almost over when Kaplan finally scored with only nine seconds left on the clock for the final 21-6 victory for the Raiders.
Coach Seal said, “"It was a big win for our program. Winning playoff games on the road is hard to do and making it to Thanksgiving week back to back for two consecutive years says a lot about our program.”
Seal noted that “this last month our quarterback Trey Knight has really stepped up and taken his game to a different level.”
With Knight, Garrett, and the entire team playing at a championship level, Pine has high hopes of upsetting St. James Friday night and moving on to the Division III semi-finals. If Pine defeats St. James Friday, they would then play the winner of #4 Kinder-#5 Union Parish in the semi-finals.
St. James High School is located in Vacherie, about 110 miles southwest of Pine. If you drive down for the game, allow about an hour and 45 minutes.
