Basile searching for clues after painful district defeat

This past Friday night, the Basile Bearcats had a golden opportunity against the False River Gators. A win would have not only kept them in first place in District 5-1A with a 3-0 record, but it would have also given them the opportunity to stay in the mix for a first round home playoff game.
That opportunity slipped through the Bearcats collective fingers, as they fell to False River 14-13 in a mistake ridden ball game for Basile. With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 3-5 on the year and 2-1 in district play.
This puts them in a four-way tie for first place. The loss also puts them in the No. 14 spot in the latest power rankings, a precarious place to be if they want to host an initial playoff game. (Basile must be No. 16 to host in the firstround of the playoffs.)
For Basile head coach Kevin Bertrand, the loss to False River was more of what the Bearcats did wrong, than what False River did right. Basile lost five fumbles and threw one interception in the game.
“We really played poorly,” stated Bertrand. “We had scoring opportunities, but when you turn the ball over six times in a game, you cannot possible win. We are going to have to clean up that up if we expect to compete in our remaining games.”
Basile did run the football effectively, gaining 183 yards on 40 carries. Defensively, the Bearcats did an outstanding job, holding the explosive Gator offense that came into the game averaging 41 points a game to only 14 points.
“Defensively, I thought we settled down in the second half,” said Bertand. “We gave up the two touchdowns in the first half, but came out in the second half and really buckled down.”
Basile will now travel to New Roads for a second week in a row to take on Catholic of Pointe Coupee. The Hornets (3-5, 1-2) come into the game averaging 20 points a game and give up an average of 25.8 points per game.
“Catholic is very similar to us in that they like to run the ball,” commented Bertrand. “They run the mid-line veer and the option off of that. We are going to have to be really disciplined on defense and carry out our assignments if we want to have a chance at winning.”