By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor
VILLE PLATTE – Heading into 2022, Ville Platte head coach Roy Serie was ambitious.
His goal was for his team to finish with a .500 record.
That 5-5 record would’ve almost certainly had Serie in the conversation for his coaching abilities. But, he still may be anyway after this season.
The Ville Platte Bulldogs may only be 2-7 overall heading into tomorrow night’s regular season finale against Oberlin. However, the growth the program has shown this year cannot be measured by wins and losses alone.
Serie wanted to reinstill pride in the Bulldog football program: mission accomplished.
He wanted to establish a foundation for the program’s future: check.
For his final act this year, he wants to send his seniors off on a high note against Oberlin.
“My goal was to get some pride and to build,” Serie said. “To give us some things we could feel proud of. It would’ve been nice to finish .500. The two games we lost in district, we felt like we had a chance to win. We could’ve easily had four wins.
But in our mind, we felt like we played well enough to be in that position. In this one, we’re hoping to leave no doubt and do what we need to do.”
Much of getting that done will rely on a rugged group of seniors that has led by example all season.
“I think it’s meant a lot (to the seniors),” Serie said. “They’re still here. I have nine seniors and they’re all here today. They’ve played their hearts out this year. It shows how much they’ve put into it and how much this year has meant to them. Knowing that it’s your last time practicing, barring something magical, we’d like to go out on a bang and we’re preparing ourselves to do that.”
Winning against a strong Oberlin team would be an accomplishment. The Tigers, entering the game with a 7-2 record, have given teams fits all year with their wing-T scheme.
“They’ve got some skill guys that can break it big,” Serie said. “They’re familiar with their offense and don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Ville Platte though, feels like it matches up well with Oberlin.
“We feel we can match up with them on the line,” Serie said. “We also like our speed against theirs. But, we’re going to need to stop those big plays.”
However, Serie knows his team has made significant progress this year no matter tomorrow’s result.
“Compared to last year, we weren’t in any games,” he said. “To know that we were in games this year is a big improvement. We played some ball this year to show we’re moving in the right direction. We’re going to have guys that are coming back that understand what it takes. It’s going to be helpful.
“We didn’t have any solid starters last year. Next year, we’ll know we’ll have guys in spots. We want to send seniors off on a positive note. That’s our goal.”
June 20, 2026
