Bulldogs try to even record against Warriors

Ville Platte High School goes into Friday night’s contest against the Oakdale Warriors needing a victory to even their record for the year. The Bulldogs are 1-2 having dropped their last two games to Basile and Huntington. In both losses, Ville Platte has had trouble finishing drives that could have changed the momentum of each game. Why the inconsistency on offense? A very plausible answer could lie in the fact that the Bulldogs have to play a number of younger players due to injuries. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Oakdale.
“We had a young guy at quarterback Friday and that caused an issue with timing in the exchange between quarterback and running back,” commented Head Coach Jorie Randle. “We had some growing pains having to play a lot of young kids on offense because of injuries to our starters. These are all correctable things. It’s a lot of pressure on a freshman to come in against a 4A school for your first ever start.” Freshman Rodricas Fontenot was forced to start in place of injured starter Terez Alfred at quarterback.
Ville Platte garnered a total of 287 yards on offense Friday against Huntington. The running game contributed 249 of those total yards. Dayton Jackson was the workhorse against the Raiders, carrying the ball 14 times for 132 yards and one touchdown.
“I was proud of Rodricas for coming in and doing a good job at quarterback,” said Randle. “Dayton Jackson had a really good game filling in at running back. He is not a typical tailback. Dayton is more like a fullback, which is good because he knows how to hit the hole and get the yards given to him.”
The Bulldog defense was able to hold Huntington to 255 yards of offense. However, they did allow Raider quarterback Aaron Roberson to rush for 149 yards. The only real drive that the Raiders were able to manage came late in the game as the Ville Platte defense began to wear down.
“Defensively, we played well up into the fourth quarter,” said Randle. “Once again, due to injuries, we had to play some younger guys. Ronderkus Ben came in at free safety for us and did the job he was coached to do. I think having to give our younger players some time on the field is going to make us stronger in the end. These are the guys we will have to count on if starters are unable to play. If there is such a thing as a moral victory, this last game counted as that moral victory for us.”
Ville Platte now travels to Oakdale to face a familiar opponent. The Bulldogs and Warriors have tangled the last seven years, even meeting in the playoffs in 2007. Oakdale is 1-2 on the season. The two losses were to Welsh (37-22) and Kinder (40-27). Their lone win came against Avoyelles, defeating the Mustangs 48-38 in week two. Coach Randle knows what to expect from Oakdale. “They are running the same offense they have run the last few years. They try to spread you out and throw the ball. Oakdale has a really good quarterback and their receivers catch the ball well. Defensively, they run a 4-2-5 and have some linebackers that can play. It is going to be a tough game for us. I expect Terez Alfred and Terese Thomas to be back this week. Hopefully, we can get our timing back on offense with a couple of starters returning.”
In order for Ville Platte to get to 2-2 on the season, they will need to execute better on offense. Getting returning starters back will help get the offense back to where it was at the beginning of the season. Defensively, the Bulldogs have played really well up to this point. The game against Westminster showcased what Ville Platte is capable of when everything is in place. They will need to be running on all cylinders as they head into the meat of the schedule.