Panthers fall to Kaplan, 32-13

The Berwick Panthers got off to a good start in the first quarter against the Kaplan Pirates with two touchdowns but couldn’t add to those, losing 32-13 Friday night.
The Panthers moved the ball well down the field on their first two possessions of the game, Berwick coach Craig Brodie said.
They had scoring drives of 63 yards and 61 yards capped by a Collin Louviere two-yard touchdown run and 20-yard touchdown pass from Louviere to Larenz Clark, respectively.
Berwick had 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Kaplan didn’t really make any adjustments, but Berwick just didn’t finish its drives after that, Brodie said.
Berwick’s offense wouldn’t get in the end zone again the rest of the night.
The Pirates scored on their three second-quarter drives. Quarterback Jade Herpin scored on a two-yard run, Julius Johnson added an eight-yard run, and then Herpin scored once more on a one-yard run.
Kaplan went into halftime with a 32-13 lead, and neither team scored the remainder of the game.
On Kaplan’s opening possession of the third quarter, the Pirates turned the ball over after Berwick recovered a fumble on what the referees ruled a lateral.
The Panthers took over at the Pirates 22-yard line but couldn’t capitalize on the good field position, turning the ball over on downs. Berwick turned the ball over on downs on next possession as well after coming just inches short of a first down at the Kaplan 34.
Several key plays in the game, including a dropped touchdown pass, “just didn’t go our way tonight,” Brodie said.
Johnson led the Pirates with 217 rushing yards on 27 carries and had two touchdown runs. Kaplan had 351 yards of total offense, while Berwick had 231 total yards.
Brodie said he was “very proud” of Berwick’s defensive performance. The defense forced three fumbles, recovering two.
“They gave us the ball, the turnovers,” Brodie said. “We didn’t do much on offense.”
The Panthers held Kaplan out the end zone in the second half in what “could have been a much uglier, a much higher score,” Brodie said.
“Our kids showed their pride,” he said. “And they never gave up.”
Berwick has three games left in the season, and the team’s goal is to win two of those games and “get in the playoffs,” Brodie said.
“It’s very possible, and we have a lot to play for,” Brodie said. “It would be great for this program and the confidence of these kids to do that.”
Kaplan coach Stephen Lotief said Berwick has a great team, and Kaplan didn’t underestimate the Panthers.
“They did exactly what we thought they were going to do,” he said. “They’re coached well, and they fought their butts off. We just had a little more tonight.”
“They made the plays in the first quarter, and we kind of made the plays the rest of the game,” Lotief said.
Kaplan is “fighting an injury bug right now” and has been playing some young players who are “doing great,” Lotief said.
“The mistakes we made tonight were probably older kids and not the young kids, which is disappointing,” Lotief said. “We’re just trying to hang on and keep getting better, and I don’t know if we got better this week.”
Kaplan improved to 4-3 this season and 2-2 in district play.
With the loss, Berwick fell to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in its district.
This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald. He can be reached at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.
Berwick Box Score
BHS KHS
First downs 11 18
Rushing yards 98 318
Passing yards 133 33
Total yards 231 351
A-C-HI 29-11-0 5-3-0
Penalty-yds. 3-20 9-50
Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2
Punts-avg. 4-18.25 1-33

Score by quarter
BHS 13 0 0 0 = 13
KHS 8 24 0 0 = 32

Scoring summary
First Quarter
BHS: Collin Louviere 2-yard run (John McCorkle kick) 8:10

KHS: Julius Johnson 45-yard run (Johnson run) 6:20

BHS: Louviere 20-yard pass to Larenz Clark (kick blocked) 3:00
Second Quarter
KHS: Jade Herpin 2-yard run (T.J. Broussard run) 9:48

KHS: Johnson 8-yard run (Johnson run) 5:02

KHS: Herpin 1-yard run (Johnson run) 0:40

Box score
Berwick individual stats
Rushing
Collin Louviere, 14-92 yds., TD; Joshua Carver, 3-20 yds.; Larenz Clark, 1-5 yds.; Joshua Jones, 2-3 yds.; Mitchell Sanford, 1-(-2) yds; Team loss, 1-(-20) yds.

Passing
Collin Louviere, 9-24-0, 123 yds., TD; Mitchell Sanford, 2-5-0, 10 yds.

Receiving
Audwin Williams, 5-67 yds.; Kenan Jones, 1-23 yds.; Larenz Clark, 1-20 yds. TD; Tysin Meads, 2-9 yds.; Joshua Carver, 1-9 yds.; Denver Jenkins, 1-5 yds.