Bret Fuselier admits that it usually takes a few games for the offense to get rolling.
“In our offense it is going to take some time,” Kinder’s eighth-year head coach Fuselier said of the Yellow Jackets’ option-based offense. “The offense always has some catching up to do because of getting down the timing.”
After a seven-point, 213-yard performance in the opener, Kinder bounced back in a big way in its second week contest with Opelousas Catholic. The Yellow Jackets put together four touchdown drives, and shut down the Vikings’ high-powered offense in a 28-10 victory.
“We are still not where we need to be but it looked a lot better than it did against St. Louis,” Fuselier added.
Opelousas Catholic struck first as the Vikings jumped out to a 7-0 lead after a 29-yard touchdown pass from Drake Guidry to Cameron Laviere.
“They took the opening drive and went right down the field,” Fuselier said. “They converted a big third down to the (Keon) Coleman kid and then we had a blown coverage on the touchdown.”
After the two teams traded punts, Kinder (1-1) got its offensive going.
The Yellow Jackets put together a pair of touchdown drives in the second quarter. Bryce Laughlin scored on a two-yard touchdown run and then Griffin Cooley found Dee Fontenot for a 27-yard touchdown.
Fuselier made sure to credit some of the uptick in the team’s offensive performance against OC due to reshuffling the offensive line — with two new starters.
“We made a couple of changes along the offensive line last week,” Fuselier said. “I thought the offensive line accepted the challenge and we looked like a whole different unit out there this week compared to the first week.”
OC (1-1) managed to get a 21-yard field goal by halftime which cut the lead to 14-10.
Kinder’s defense though was stout in the second half as it shut out OC’s offense in the final two quarters. The Vikings, who scored 52 points in their season opener, were unable to get anything going offensively all night.
OC wide receiver, and heralded college prospect, Keon Coleman was held to just five receptions for 55 yards and no touchdowns, while quarterback Drake Guidry completed 13-of-38 passes for 186 yards.
“It was a tough assignment to try and stop that offense because they can score points in bunches,” Fuselier said. “The Coleman kid is what makes the offense go. I thought the front four did a good job of putting pressure on the quarterback and I thought the guys on the back end did a good job. We did a good job all around on defense.”
Kinder’s offense meanwhile put the game away with a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half.
After a muffed punt by OC, Kinder took advantage of the short field as C.J. May scored on a 22-yard run in the third quarter. Tylan Ceasar finished off the scoring by adding a nine-yard TD run in the fourth.
Kinder was led on the ground by Ceasar with 85 yards on 21 carries while Laughlin added 64 yards on 12 carries. May had two receptions for 42 yards.
“It is always nice to get your first win of the season,” Fuselier said. “Especially against a ball club like Opelousas Catholic. The way our offense played against a physical defense stands out to me. To look at what we did in week one and then turn around and do what we did against Opelousas Catholic was impressive. We have shown a lot of improvement from week one to week two.”
Despite getting a convincing victory, Fuselier says that his team still has plenty to work on and that begins with preparation this week for Friday’s game against Lake Charles College Prep.
“We still shot ourselves in the foot with penalties,” Fuselier said. “If we want to be a good football team we’ve got to stop doing things like that that kills ourselves.”
