Bulldogs travel to face first-ranked Livonia

The Ville Platte High Bulldogs are riding high off a two game win streak and the confidence that comes with it. The Bulldogs have beaten district opponents Port Barre and Pine Prairie in the last two weeks. Those wins have given Ville Platte some much needed power points and a huge amount of determination. They will need all of that and more this Friday as the Bulldogs travel to number one ranked Livonia. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Against the Pine Prairie Panthers this past week, Ville Platte used the dominance of their players up front to take the 25-7 victory. The Bulldog offensive line at times imposed its will on the defensive front of the Panthers. Ville Platte rushed for a total of 221 yards on 53 carries. Terese Thomas led all rushers with 88 yards on 16 carries. Thomas is coming off an injury earlier in the year. Dayton Jackson added 60 yards on 10 rushes. The passing game did not materialize for the Bulldogs as Terez Alfred and Rodricas Fontenot combined for a zero for five night throwing the ball.
“I was proud of how our offensive and defensive lines were able to control the line of scrimmage,” stated Ville Platte Head Coach Jorie Randle. “It was tough to see Terez (Alfred) go down, but Rodricas Fontenot came in and did a good job of managing the game. We made one mistake on the long pass, but we did not let it get us down. I was very impressed with Vondarius Freeman. He gave Doucet fits all night. All of our kids played hard.”
The Ville Platte defense came up with a very powerful performance. The Bulldogs held the Panthers to 109 yards of total offense, 62 yards of that total came on one play. Probably the biggest stat for the Ville Platte defense on the night was that it held Pine Prairie to 46 yards rushing. How the Bulldogs were able to control the Panther offense is probably best answered on the defensive line. Up front, the Bulldogs commanded the line of scrimmage which freed up the linebackers and strong safeties to scrape and make tackles.
Ville Platte now will face the 5-3A gauntlet the next two weeks. Number two Church Point waits in two weeks, but first the Bulldogs must face a huge test against the Wildcats. Livonia is 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in district. The Wildcats defeated Port Barre this past week by the score of 53-0. Livonia is outscoring its opponents 266-88. More importantly the Wildcats, according to the LHSAA website, are ranked first in the power rankings as of last week.
“Livonia is the real deal,” said Randle. “They now have some players from Pointe Coupee Central after it closed and with that they have a veteran defense, so that combination gives them a legit shot of winning it all this year. They don’t throw it much but when they do, it goes for big yardage. They run a very up tempo offense. Their defense scored 28 points by themselves against McDonough 35 earlier this year. We are going to have to play our total best to have a chance against these guys.”