Questions Answered?

On a full moon Friday night, four of the five parish football squads came together in Basile trying to get answers to questions about their teams before the season opener next week.
After the performance of each of these teams, the Evangeline Parish Jamboree not only answered some questions, but also brought about more questions still unresolved.
For Ville Platte High, the question still remains: can the Bulldogs muster enough of a passing game to complement the quality run game shown against Pine Prairie in their 28-0 win over the Panthers.
“It’s something (passing game) we are going to have to continue working on,” said Bulldog head coach Jorie Randall. “We work on it every day. I definitely think it will come around. We have to just instill some confidence in our quarterback, Terez Alfred. I think he will be alright.”
Pine Prairie head coach Yves Prince and the Panthers are hoping to answer a very important question after their loss to Ville Platte; are the mistakes of last year still haunting the team in 2015?
The Panthers had eight penalties called on them along with seven turnovers.
“We have to go back to the drawing board,” stated Prince. “I know we were a little nervous tonight, but that is no excuse. We will get it together. We will just have to work extra hard this week on trying to correct those mistakes.”
The Mamou Demons have a number of questions left to be answered, as they made a plethora of mistakes against Basile in a 28-0 loss to the Bearcats.
First and foremost, they still have to find that rhythm that comes with trying to put together a young squad. Demon head Coach Brian Brumfield knows that may take some extra work, especially being behind schedule.
“We are still three to four weeks behind everyone else because we got a late start with the coaching staff,” commented Brumfield. “However, we are going to have to grow up in a hurry, because the season starts next week. A lot of the mistakes that were made are correctable. We are just going to have to fix those things in a hurry.”
Basile head coach Kevin Bertrand and his Bearcats have questions to answer also. Fortunately for the Basile, the questions that need to be answered are of the positive variety.
Can the Bearcats maintain the amazing ground game churned up against the Demons? And, can the Bearcat defense continue to dominate as they did against Mamou? Only time will tell.
“We wanted to establish the run early,” said Bertrand. “We used the jamboree to help get us in game shape and force us to work though some of the tiredness we felt. It’s a good feeling to have a number of guys to help run the ball.”
“Defensively, those guys make our job easy, having nine returning starters. They correct their mistakes without us having to tell them.”
Here is a summary of the two games played.

Ville Platte vs.
Pine Prairie
In a game marred by penalties and turnovers, the Ville Platte Bulldogs rolled up 208 yards rushing on 28 carries in a 28-0 win over the Panthers.
The two teams combined for 12 turnovers and 13 penalties in two 15 minute halves.
Ville Platte scored on their very first possession, driving 75 yards on four plays. Jaishaun Doucet broke a 69 yard touchdown run over the left side on the sixth play of the drive with 12:08 left to play in the first half.
Rodricas Fontenot added the extra point and the Bulldogs lead 7-0.
The Bulldogs added to their lead when quarterback Terez Alfred broke loose on a 27 yard run after tucking the ball on a brake down in pass protection.
Fontenot tacked on the extra point and Ville Platte lead 14-0 at the 9:35 mark.
On the ensuing Panther possession, Alfred made his mark on the game for the second time, as he intercepted an errant Dylan Doucet pass at the 50 yard line and motored into the end zone for his second score of the game.
Fontenot was true once again and Ville Platte now led 21-0 with 8:27 left in the first half.
The final score for the Bulldogs came at the 13:07 mark of the second half. Daylon Jones took a handoff on the fourth play of the series and scampered 58 yards to paydirt.
Fontenot added the point after and Ville Platte now held the 28-0 lead, which stood for the rest of the contest.
Jones led all rushers with 114 yards on ten carries and a touchdown. Jaishaun Doucet had 72 yards on seven carries and one touchdown

Mamou vs.
Basile
The twilight game of the jamboree saw the Bearcats control the line of scrimmage and rush for a total of 237 yards from their top three runners on 22 carries in a 28-0 win over Mamou.
Leading the way for the Bearcats was Gabe Fontenot who carried 12 times for 151 yards and three touchdowns.
Jared Belle had eight rushes for 68 yards and one touchdown.
Basile fought themselves on their very first possession. After a holding penalty, the Bearcats faced a third and twenty-two at their 30 yard line, when Gabe Fontenot picked up 20 huge yards on a counter over the left side.
Facing fourth and two, Bertrand rolled the dice and handed the ball off to Belle, who bowled over the right side to pick up the first down.
Five plays later, Belle took the ball over the right side for a nifty 22 yard touchdown run.
The extra point was no good from Jacob Guillory and Basile led 6-0 at the 7:55 mark in the first half.
The Bearcats got the ball right back, as Lyndon Berwick recovered a Mamou fumble on the ensuing Demon possession at the Mamou 29 yard line. Four plays later, Fontenot rumbled for a 19 yard touchdown run over the right side.
A botched snap on the extra point resulted in a scramble by Tray David, who threw a pass into the end zone to Clark for the two point conversion. With 6:05 left in the first half, Basile now led 14-0.
Big runs from Blaise Hebert and Gabe Fontenot set up the Bearcat’s next touchdown. Basile started at their 31 yard line and drove the length of the field in five plays with Fontenot plunging in from four yards out to add to the Bearcat lead.
Guillory tacked on the extra point and with 1:42 left in the half, Basile now led 21-0.
The final score from the Bearcats came in the second half at the 6:27 mark. Basile once again dominated the line of scrimmage putting together a fourteen play, 65 yard drive.
Fontenot punched the ball in from the 12 yard line to complete the Bearcat scoring.
Guillory added the extra point and Basile led 28-0.