Citizen Bear

By: RHETT MANUEL Sports Editor CHURCH POINT – It’s hard to imagine a scenario where a football team blows out the other team and doesn’t feel great about it. It’s also difficult to imagine, within the same scenario, and feels like it did a lot of things well. Yet, all told, after Church Point’s 58-20 win over Ville Platte in District 4-3A play on Thursday night that’s exactly where both teams were. Church Point (8-0, 5-0) took advantage of some big plays in all three phases of the game to take control of the contest while Ville Platte (2-6, 2-3) had the rare privilege of being a team who has led against the Bears this year while continuing to fight even after the game was well out of reach. At the end of the day, the Bears remained in control of its destiny in pursuit of the district championship ahead of the presumed district championship game in Week 10 at Iota. Church Point handled business in the face of adversity. A short week of practice was cut even shorter due to an outbreak of sickness within the program that prevented the Bears from having a Monday or Tuesday practice. “Tonight taught us how important preparing through the week is for a Friday or Thursday night,” Church Point head coach J.C. Arceneaux said. Preparation helps, but so does having a player like Tylon Citizen to lean on. Citizen carried Church Point offensively Thursday night. He accounted for four total touchdowns, three on the ground and one in the return game. His rushing touchdowns were all 40 yards or greater – a 54-yarder to cap the opening drive of the game, a 70-yarder in the second quarter and a 43-yarder on Church Point’s one-play drive in its opening possession in the third quarter. But his crowning jewel may have been his 73-yard kick return score that capped off the night’s scoring. It was another sterling performance from a player Arceneaux has gotten used to seeing special things from. “He’s a phenomenal high school football player,” he said. “I hope the local colleges are paying attention. Because he deserves an opportunity to play at the next level because the bottom line is that he’s a football player and a playmaker.” Citizen’s big night was supplemented by big plays of the defensive end, including a pair of pick-6 scores. “Defense did what they needed to do tonight,” Arceneaux said. For Ville Platte, it was the rare night where a blowout loss had positives attached to it. The Bulldogs took the lead with 6:40 left in the first quarter behind an Omarion Frank four-yard touchdown run to give them an early 7-6 edge. Even when Church Point led by as many as 29 points in the second quarter, Ville Platte showed resilience and continued to battle when quarterback Bastian Veillion connected with Jakahalen Slaughter on a 10-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 36-14. The Bulldogs added a score late in the third quarter when Frank took an interception to the house. Ville Platte head coach Roy Serie was optimistic about his team’s showing despite the wide margin. “I think we had some early momentum,” he said. “But you turn the ball over early against a team like that, you can’t do it. I’m proud of the way we fought and executed. We have something to work for. “I like the attitude that we never quit,” he added. “We have two games left at home and we’re going to try to defend our turf.”