Cementing a spot?

VILLE PLATTE -- On a drizzly, overcast homecoming night, the Ville Platte High Bulldogs pretty much solidified a spot in the Class 3A playoffs, defeating the Pine Prairie Panthers by the score of 18-12.
Ville Platte came into the game ranked number 29 in the latest non-select ranking list. With the win, the Bulldogs will almost be guaranteed a place in the field of 32 come next Sunday when the 2015 brackets are released, regardless of the outcome next week against Church Point.
The loss for the Panthers, however, will more than likely mean that they must defeat Eunice High next week in order to get into the postseason. Pine Prairie came into the game as the number 32 ranked team in the state amongst all non-select teams.
The win for Ville Platte did not come easily. The Bulldogs had to endure a late fumble that gave the Panthers the ball on the Ville Platte 17-yard line with only 49 seconds left to play in the game.
But, as it had done all game long, the Bulldogs defense buckled down and held the Panthers out of the end zone to preserve the victory.
Both teams came into the game as mirror images; with solid running games and good defensive play.
When all was said and done, the final stats bore that out.
Ville Platte ended the night with 268 yards of offense and 17 first downs. The Bulldogs rushed the ball for 233 yards on 49 attempts.
Pine Prairie concluded the game with a total of 170 yards of offense and 11 first downs. The Panthers used their ground game to pick up 140 yards on 47 carries.
Ville Platte received the opening kickoff to start the game and wasted no time getting their offense going.
Starting on their 38-yard line, the Bulldogs began to attack the Panther defense on the ground. Daylon Jones picked up 14 yards on his first three carries of the night.
Jaishaun Doucet added a 10-yard run to give Ville Platte the ball first and 10 from the Pine Prairie 38-yard line.
After an incomplete pass from Terez Alfred to Rondrekus Ben, Alfred took a mishandled snap off of left tackle and out raced all Panther defenders 38 yards for the touchdown.
The extra point from Brandon Veazie was blocked by Dylan Doucet. However, with 9:23 seconds left in the first quarter, Ville Platte lead 6-0.
The Panthers took over possession after the touchdown and were forced to punt after picking up an initial first down.
The Panthers returned the favor on Ville Platte’s next possession.
Pine Prairie needed an answer on offense and got one on their very next possession.
Starting on the Ville Platte 49-yard line, after the Bulldog punt, the three-headed offensive monster of Dylan Doucet, Douglas Fontenot and Joshua Fontenot began to assert itself.
The Panthers drove down to the Bulldog 13-yard line in 13 plays.
Facing third down and 12, the Panthers dusted off the playbook and pulled out the throwback pass to the quarterback, as Doucet hauled in a 13-yard pass from Douglas Fontenot for the score.
The extra point was partially blocked tying the game at 6-6 with 10 seconds gone in the second quarter.
Both Ville Platte and Pine Praire mounted a drive into the opponents territory before the half ended, but neither team could put the ball in the end zone.
As the teams headed into the locker room the score remained 6-6.
Ville Platte came out in the second half like a team possessed. The Bulldogs shut down Pine Prairie on their first possession of the third quarter and once again began to assert themselves in the run game.
The Bulldogs took their opening possession of the second half and promptly drove the ball 64 yards on seven plays. The drive was capped off by a 4-yard run by Terez Alfred.
The snap on the extra point was fumbled, giving Ville Platte the 12-6 lead with 7:25 left to go in the third quarter.
After exchanging possessions, Pine Prairie got the ball back on their 33-yard line, with time winding down in the third stanza.
Sensing a needed score, the Panthers drove the ball down to the Bulldog six-yard line, as the quarter came to a close.
On the very first play of the fourth quarter, Douglas Fontenot took the handoff over right tackle for the score.
The Panthers tried to get a little too fancy on the two-point conversion, failing to pull off the fake extra point attempt.
However, the Panthers had tied the score at 12-12 with 11:55 left to go in the game.
Ville Platte responded with force. The Bulldogs took the ensuing kickoff and systematically dismantled the Panther defense, moving 66 yards in 13 plays to the Pine Prairie two-yard line.
On second and goal, Alfred once again called his own number, taking the ball up the middle for what turned out to be the winning score.
Ville Platte tried to run the ball for the 2-point conversion, but Daylon Jones was stopped short of the goal line.
So, with 4:01 left in the game, Ville Platte had an 18-12 lead.
Pine Prairie took possession on the kickoff, but was shut down by the Ville Platte defense.
With a little over two minutes left to go and only one time out left, Pine Praire made the decision to punt the ball to Ville Platte on fourth down.
All the Bulldogs needed to do was pick up a first down and the game would be over.
Ville Platte did just that, forcing the Panthers to use their final time out.
Now it was up to the Bulldogs to hold on to the ball and the win.
But as fate would have it, Ville Platte fumbled the ball at their 17-yard line with :49 seconds left to go.
Pine Prairie could not do anything with the ball and Ville Platte took over with little time left and sealed the win as they took a knee.