Key match-up

It is hard to imagine that the second contest of a football season could determine if the year is going to be successful or if it will be filled with thoughts of what might have been.
But, for both the Pine Prairie Panthers and the Ville Platte Bulldogs, coming into week two with an opening loss, game two may just hold the key to the future of the season. The two clubs will tangle tomorrow night in Pine Prairie. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Last week, Pine Prairie fell to Tioga 33-7, while Ville Platte suffered and emotional 40-19 loss to Sacred Heart. Now, each team must find a way to shake off the disappointment of last week and put together a game plan that will get them to 1-1 on the year.
“Being 0-1 to start the year is not what any team wants,” said Pine Prairie head coach Yves Prince. “It makes it that much more important that you can get the win in the second game. We turned the ball over way too much against Tioga. If we want to have a chance to win tomorrow night we cannot do that against a good team like Ville Platte.”
“Our focus is on not starting off 0-2,” stated Ville Platte head coach Jorie Randle. “Against Sacred Heart we did not execute in the red zone when we had the opportunities in front of us. We are going to need to be able to capitalize on any momentum we get against them (Pine Prairie) if we want to get the win.”
One thing is for sure, both Pine Prairie and Ville Platte have the offenses to make a victory possible. The Panthers rushed for 163 yards against Tioga and threw for 113 yards. The Bulldogs had similar numbers, rushing for 133 yards and getting another 133 yards in the air.
Unfortunately for both clubs, miscues cost them chances to stay in the game. Pine Prairie had three turnovers in their contest, while Ville Platte coughed up three fumbles and threw one interception.
“I thought we moved the ball well at times against Tioga,” commented Prince. “But when you give up the ball as much as we did, it kills any momentum you have. I think some of that may have come with conditioning. We were not able to do any type of conditioning during the week. Hopefully, we can correct those mistakes and learn from them.”
“Every time we got something going, as far as a momentum builder, it immediately went south,” said Randle. “We will have to go back to the drawing board and see how we can get better in that area (turnovers). We have to keep in mind these are some teenagers we are dealing with and they will make mistakes. It is up to us to correct those mistakes.”
One thing is for sure, both coaches have the utmost respect for each other’s team.
“Ville Platte has a ton of athletes and love to hit you with big plays,” stated Prince. “We will need to play our best game to come away with a win.”
“This is become a real rivalry game,” commented Randle. “I know Coach Prince will have his team ready to play. They are very talented and can strike at any time on the field. Our defense will have to play big tomorrow night.”