Raiders slide by Bulldogs

Despite a valiant effort at a come-back win on Senior Night, the Ville Platte Bulldogs lost, 20-18, to the Northwest Raiders to close out the regular season.
Now, the Bulldogs await word from the Louisiana High School Athletic Association today on whether or not they have made the Class 3A playoffs.
A win against Northwest almost certainly would have earned a playoff berth for the ̓Dogs. Unofficially, Ville Platte was 26th in the state’s power rankings before the game.  Thirty-two teams make the playoffs.
The Bulldogs finish the regular season on a three game skid.  They are 3-6 on the year and 1-4 in District 5-3A.
Friday night, the Raiders were able to take advantage of Bulldog miscues to eke out the win.  Two of Northwest’s three touchdowns came on big, quick-strike plays: a 68-yard flea-flicker pass and an 87-yard kickoff return.
Throughout the night, the Bulldog defense controlled the line of scrimmage and severely limited the Raider offense.
Likewise, although Ville Platte’s offense struggled a bit, it mostly dominated the run game, especially in the second half.
The problem was that the Bulldogs simply couldn’t make their long drives pay off.
For example, Ville Platte kept possession of the ball for half of the first quarter on its first possession.  The Bulldogs had first-and-ten at the Raider 14-yardline.  
But, a block-in-the-back penalty and a 12-yard sack pushed them back; and the Bulldogs ended up turning the ball over on downs.
Similarly, Ville Platte’s first drive in the second half was disappointing after a dominant display of running by senior tailback Jermarcus Jones.  The Bulldogs drove down to the Raider eight-yardline.  
However, the ̓Dog’s fumbled the ball into the endzone, which Northwest recovered.
“That’s the way this whole season has gone,” Bulldog head coach Tracey Jagneaux said after the game.  “We always seem to shoot ourselves in the foot, making the kinds of mistakes that give the other team the advantage.”
After Ville Platte failed to score on the opening drive of the game, the game remained through the first quarter.
In the middle of the second quarter, Northwest put together its only impressive drive of the evening.  The Raiders drove 82 yards to score; however, they were helped by two big Bulldog penalties – pass interference and facemasking.
Justin Ardoin capped the drive with a two-yard score.  The Raiders missed the extra point and led 6-0 with 3:25 to play in the half.
Two minutes later, the Raiders scored again.  This time, Northwest used a bit of trickery with a 68-yard pass on a flea-flicker that completely fooled the Bulldog defensive backs.  The two-point conversion was good, and Northwest took a 14-0 lead into halftime.
Despite the deficit, Ville Platte felt its chances were good for a come-back, if it could be the team to catch a break for once.
And, finally the Bulldogs did catch a break.  Dayton Jackson recovered a fumble, setting the Bulldogs up inside Raider territory.
The fired-up Bulldog offense drove down to the eight-yardline, where it fumbled the ball right back.
Nevertheless, the Bulldogs kept their heads up and spirits high.  They still felt that there was time for the come-back.
The Bulldog defense forced a punt, which Jones returned 20 yards to the Raider 30-yardline.
Two plays later, senior quarterback Isaiah Thomas hit a wide open Olanjerwan Leday for the score.  The extra point attempt failed, but trailing just 14-6 Bulldog fans sensed that the momentum had turned.
Ville Platte’s defense forced another punt, and the Bulldog offense put together another solid drive to score again.  Jones capped the 50-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs missed the two-point conversion and trailed 14-12, but with eight minutes to play even the Raiders knew that Ville Platte had taken control.
That’s when things fell apart again for the Bulldogs.
On the ensuing kickoff, Justin Ardoin fielded the ball at the 13-yardline, broke to the right sideline, broke through several Bulldog tacklers, somehow managed to stay in-bounds, and raced 87-yards to score.
Although they missed the two-point conversion, suddenly the game was back to an eight point Raider advantage.
But, with 7:51 left to play there seemed to be plenty of time for Ville Platte to get the tying and go-ahead scores to win the game.
Two plays later, Northwest intercepted a Bulldog pass.
Yet, still the Bulldogs didn’t give up hope.  The Bulldog defense once again stuffed the Raiders, forcing a turnover on downs and giving Ville Platte the ball back with more than six minutes to play.
The  Dogs scored on a 13-yard Kendall Ardoin reception, to cut the lead to 20-18 with 1:47 to play in the game.
 Unfortunately, Ville Platte missed the two-point conversion that would have tied the game and at least sent it into overtime.
Ville Platte tried an onside kick, but Northwest recovered, and was able to run out the clock for the win.
Jones finished the game with 89 yards and a touchdown.  Thomas had 168 yards and two touchdown on 18-of-28 passing, with one interception.  
Ardoin had six catches for 73 yards and a score. Leday had 33 yards and a touchdown on two receptions. Darrien Anderson added five catches for 30 yards.