Bulldogs to host Port Barre for Homecoming

The Ville Platte Bulldogs are coming off of a tough loss to the St. Charles Comets this past Friday by a score of 49-0, giving them a 1-4 record. The Comets are a perennial football powerhouse in the world of 3A. St. Charles came to Ville Platte with over 80 players on their roster, while the Bulldogs only claim 40 players on their roster. This week, Ville Platte hosts the Port Barre Red Devils for homecoming. The Devils have numbers closer to the Bulldogs. This and the fact that Ville Platte will probably be at full strength for the first time in two weeks will be a big boost for the Bulldogs. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
“I think we had a lack of mental focus against St. Charles,” stated Ville Platte Head Coach Jorie Randle. “They are a very good football team, but I don’t think they are 49 points better than us. We just did not come out mentally prepared and it is something we need to fix going into the rest of the season.”
Against the Comets, Ville Platte was unable to get on track both offensively and defensively. The Bulldog offense was only able to manage 116 yards on 43 plays, and average of 2.7 yards per play. There were times throughout the game that Ville Platte showed flashes of being able to move the football. Yet, every time the offense gained a little momentum, the Comet defense was able to shut down the Bulldogs. Quarterback Terez Alfred led the Ville Platte offense carrying the football 12 times for 48 yards. Once again, the passing game could not get going, as the Bulldogs could only manage 12 yards through the air.
“I thought the offense had a couple of decent drives,” said Randle. “Once again, we just stalled when we were deep in their territory. There was some miscommunication between quarterback and receivers. They were not on the same page at times. When we did throw good passes, our receivers dropped some passes. We will have to work on catching the ball at practice this week.”
Defensively, Ville Platte has been pretty steady this year. However, the Comet offense used the power play all night long to rack up 303 rushing yards on 39 carries. St. Charles did not need to throw the ball much, only completing six passes on nine attempts for 25 yards. Most of the scoring by the Comets took place in the first half, as they led 42-0 at halftime. The second half was played mostly with second and third string players from both squads.
“Defensively, we did not play as well as I would have wanted,” commented Randle. “We missed a number of tackles and tried to strip the ball instead of making tackles. They really hurt us up front. We had some guys out on the defensive line and had to play freshmen. Not having our starters on the defensive line made it difficult on our linebackers.”
The Bulldogs hope to get back all of their players off of the injured reserve list to face the Red Devils. This will be the district 5-3A opener for both teams. Ville Platte and Port Barre are very familiar with each other, having played each other as far back as the 1980s. The Red Devils come into the game with a 2-3 record. Port Barre’s wins have come against two 0-5 teams, Westminster and Abbeville. Last week, the Devils lost to Delcambre by a score of 35-14.
“Port Barre is pretty much doing the same thing on offense they have been doing the last few years,” said Randle. “If anything they are trying to pass the ball a little more. Their quarterback is pretty good. They have a big, tall receiver that is about 6’6” and they try to get him the ball as much as possible. Defensively, they are big up front and have really good linebackers. We will have to play very focused football against those guys.”
The Bulldogs have really been hampered by injuries the last few weeks. The beginning of the season showed a lot of promise, when Ville Platte was at their healthiest. Hopefully, the Bulldogs can get back to the team they were earlier.
The district season gives Ville Platte a chance to get things going again. A win for homecoming would be a big confidence boost going into the second half of the season.