New-look Bulldogs showing signs of life

It’s so hard to take anything from the round of scrimmages that precede the high school football season.
In a nutshell, they’re a chance for teams to see something different.
In terms of determining how good teams will be in the coming season, they’re practically useless.
They’re glorified practices. An opportunity to see how kids respond to another team.
What they can be used for is to see how teams respond to competition. They’re a golden chance to see effort and if you were in the doldrums, how far you’ve come on the little things.
Lining up. Cleaning up mistakes. Trying out new offenses.
So, when Ville Platte lined up for its scrimmage last Friday against Slaughter Charter and St. Ed’s, head coach Roy Serie had to be looking for those things.
He had to be gauging his team’s progress and how far it had come in the year or so since he took the job after Jorie Randle’s dismissal.
Serie’s goal has always been to restore pride to Ville Platte football since he returned to the sidelines. He’s been doing that, painstaking detail to painstaking detail.
The stadium looks better thanks to a little elbow grease. The team will be dressed better thanks to an updated helmet (a bulldog decal with a white and silver helmet stripe) and new uniforms (a return to the school’s traditional purple and white color scheme.)
But frankly, none of those details will matter if the school can’t take pride in its on-field product.
I’m happy to report that my first impression of this season’s Bulldogs is that VPHS will be able to say that this team fights with every ounce of its ability to make the school proud.
There’s just a different air around this season’s version of the Bulldogs.
First, there’s the physicality. Gone is the ill-fated attempt at a spread offense that is being replaced by a hard-nosed wing-T attack.
It’s a brilliant move because the wing-T is just one of those offenses that is easier to install but difficult to stop when it’s run well.
And the Bulldogs flashed a grasp and knowledge of the offense in Friday’s scrimmage. They looked crisp in their blocking and execution of the offense. Quarterback Bastian Veillion’s footwork in the exchanges on handoff were pretty spot-on. Running back Jakahalen Slaughter was a threat in both the running and passing games.
Defensively, there was effort for days. There was rooting for teammates on good plays and accountability on negative plays.
Most importantly on both sides of the ball, there was belief in themselves. Anyone who had seen Ville Platte football in the recent season saw a group of kids that looked defeated and seemed like they didn’t want to be there. There was nothing to indicate that those past demons are still possessing the Bulldog football program.
Whether it translates into a winning record for Ville Platte football in the upcoming season remains to be seen. This program had fallen on dark days and been left for dead.
But within a year, Serie and his coaching staff have improved numbers, improved effort and all signs point to a program that is heading in the right direction.
Because of that, this sportswriter may have a new favorite underdog story to root for in the 2022 season.