Ville Platte takes on 7-0 Northwest; still hoping for playoffs

After picking up a much needed win against Port Barre this past Friday night, the Ville Platte Bulldogs will now face the District 5-3A leader Northwest High for a chance at picking up some much needed power points and putting themselves in position for a district title. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Ville Platte is 4-3 on the year and 1-1 in district play, placing them in a second place tie along with Eunice in the district. A win over Northwest would at the least keep them in a tie for second, depending on how the Church Point/Eunice game turns out.
More importantly the Bulldogs come in as the No. 45 team in Class 3A in power rankings. Gaining a victory over the Raiders would put them ever closer to their goal of making the playoffs for the second year in a row. They must be among the top 32 teams in order to secure a playoff spot.
“This is probably the biggest game we have faced in the last two seasons,” stated Ville Platte head coach Jorie Randle. “If we can get this one in the win column, it would definitely give us a huge boost toward making the playoffs and a ton of confidence going forward.”
In order for Ville Platte to come away with the win, they must duplicate the dominating play up front they shown in their previous four wins. In those games, both the offensive and defensive lines have controlled the line of scrimmage and thus controlled the time of possession.
“No doubt about it, when we are playing well up front good things happen for us,” said Randle. “Both our offensive and defensive lines have proven that they can dominate a game. When that happens, it allows us to run the ball effectively and eat up the clock which in turn keeps our defense fresh.”
Northwest is definitely a formidable opponent. The Raiders boast a perfect 7-0 record and have one of the most explosive offenses in the state, averaging 41 points a game. On the opposite side of the ball, Northwest surrenders eight points per game.
The only chink in the Raider armor, if you can call it that, is their opponents have a combined record of 18-30.
However, the Bulldogs know it will be a tall task to bring home the upset.
“They are so good up front on their offensive line,” commented Randle. “We are going to have to stop their big running back at the line of scrimmage, because if he gets into the secondary, our defensive backs will not be able to tackle him one-on-one. I think we match-up well against them, because of how our defense has played all year. We are just going to have to control the ball and the clock and grind our way to some points on offense.”