Another ‘Cat fight

After falling to the Opelousas Tigers 7-6 this past Friday, the Ville Platte Bulldogs find themselves in another cat fight, as they travel to Eunice to take on the Bobcats in the first action of District 5-3A. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
It was not the game that Ville Platte expected against Opelousas. The Bulldogs came into their homecoming game last week confident that they could be a 4-1 team going into district play. However, a poor showing on the offensive side of the ball caused Ville Platte to muster only 132 total yards.
Even though the Opelousas defensive staff had a good game plan against the Bulldogs, head coach Jorie Randle was a little concerned about his team’s performance, especially in the run game.
“We did not run the ball as effectively as we have in the last four games,” said Randle. “I think not having our starting center available was definitely a problem. That forced us to shuffle some personnel and we did not have that timing that is so important. We should be at full force tomorrow and hopefully that will get us back on track.”
Defensively, Ville Platte did exactly what they planned. The Tigers were held to 38 total yards of offense and gave up the lone touchdown after a pass interference penalty that put the ball inside the Bulldog five-yard line.
“I thought the defense was superb against Opelousas,” stated Randle. “We held them to minimal offense all night long. We just lost our composure late in the game and it cost us. But, for the most part, I was very excited with our defensive play.”
That defense will be needed against a seasoned and disciplined team like Eunice. The Bobcats come into the contest averaging 27 points per game. Eunice is 3-2 on the year and have beaten St. Martinville, Crowley and Opelousas.
“They are a typical Eunice team when it comes to offense,” commented Randle. “They run their Wing-T plays and like to put it in their fullback’s hands. When they are in trouble, their quarterback can spin it really well and he has an excellent target at wide receiver. We are going to have to be very disciplined against them.”
An area that can possibly be exploited against Eunice is their defense. The Bobcats have given up an average of 22 points per game this season and have yielded three touchdowns in three of the five games they have played.
“I really think we can move the ball on them,” said Randle. “If we can get back our timing that we had the first four weeks of the season, we will be ok. We have to find some soft spots in their five-man front. Getting the run game going again after last week will be a major key for us.”
The game against Eunice not only is important in terms of power points, but is the first chance for either team to get out of the gate quickly in terms of owning a district title.
“We definitely want to be 1-0 in district after this week,” stated Randle. “Our district is very tough and having that one win under our belt to start off would be a huge boost of confidence for the rest of the district season.”