Ville Platte seeks to get back into win column Friday night

It was a roller coaster ride for the Ville Platte High Bulldogs this past Friday, as their 13 point halftime lead faded late in the game in a 21-20 loss to Lafayette Christian.
Despite outgaining the Knights 373-216 in total yardage, the Bulldogs could not find the end zone in the second half, scoring all three touchdowns in the first two quarters.
“It seems like it happens every week,” stated Ville Platte head coach Jorie Randle. “We come out of halftime and seem to lose focus. The first two games it did not come back to haunt us, but this time it did. It is something that has to be corrected quickly.”
The Ville Platte rushing attack was on point the entire first half against Lafayette Christian, as the versatile junior Jaishaun Doucet collected 128 yards on 18 carries. However, the Bulldogs made some costly mistakes in the second half of the game that allowed the Knights to crawl back into the game.
“It seemed like every time we had a big play in the second half we had a penalty,” commented Randle. “I believe we had over 100 yards in penalties. But the tale of the tape was the turnover at the end of the game.”
Defensively, Ville Platte showed their usual stingy personality throughout most of the game. The Bulldogs managed to hold the Knights to only 128 yards rushing on 32 carries.
Ville Platte even came up with a goal line stand late in the game, only to see the ball fumbled into the end zone on the very next offensive play to give the Knights the win.
“The defense played really well against Lafayette Christian,” stated Randle. “Our defensive backs forced them to have to run the ball because they were able to do their job against the spread. We have played really well against the run this year, and if we continue to do that we will be successful.”
Ville Platte now looks to get back on the winning track as they finally get a home game tomorrow night. The Bulldogs will host winless North Central in a non-district contest. The Hurricanes lost to Morgan City 44-16 this past Friday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
“We can’t take North Central lightly,” said Randle. “We can’t take any team lightly. On any given Friday, you can get beat. North Central has a good running back and a nice looking quarterback. It will take us to play with focus from start to finish if we want this win.”