Finishing strong

VILLE PLATTE – The Mamou Demons scored on the first drive of the fourth quarter and held on with an interception in the end zone on the last play of the game to complete a thrilling 24-20 comeback win over the Ville Platte Bulldogs.
The victory moved Mamou to 3-3 on the season and 1-0 in district play. The Demons host Pine Prairie for homecoming this coming Friday night.
The Ville Platte loss dropped them to 2-4 on the year and 0-1 in district play. The Bulldogs travel to Iota this Friday night for another District 5-3A contest.
After the game, Mamou head coach Dwight Collins talked about the big win his team was able to earn.
“The players are very excited with this win,” stated Collins. “We are definitely going to celebrate this one, but we will have to get ready for next week. We had to re-group at halftime, but once we cleared everything up, we were able to play a lot better. This was a hard fought game. Ville Platte played really well. They have great athletes that did some great things tonight.”
Ville Platte High head coach Jorie Randle lamented about his team’s heartbreaking loss.
“We gave up too many big plays, especially in the first half,” said Randle. “We just have to learn to be a complete team. We have the heart and the grit, but sometimes we lose mental focus. This was a game we had control over but just could not put it away. But, the players fought the entire game.”
Mamou opened the game on offense after Ville Platte won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Demons moved the ball from their 30-yard line to the Bulldog 49-yard line but were forced the punt the ball away.
Ville Platte began its first drive of the game at its 21-yard line following the punt. On the second play of the game, Bulldog running back Jahmal Byers picked up 38 yards to the Mamou 34-yard line.
Five plays later, Ville Platte quarterback Terrian Roy hit wide out Ernest Roberts on a slant pass that Roberts was able to take in from seven yards out. The extra point was no good, giving the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead with 4:23 to go in the first quarter.
Offensively, the Demons could not get much going in the early stages of the game. On its following two possessions of the first half, Mamou managed to be in the negative column of yards gained.
Ville Platte, on the other hand, stayed in Demon territory. On their third possession of the night, the Bulldogs found themselves at the Mamou 26-yard.
Facing a third and 18 situation, Roy connected with Tyler Jones on a tunnel screen that Jones was able to turn into a touchdown. Once again the extra point failed, making it a 12-0 game in favor of Ville Platte with 6:29 to go in the second quarter.
The Mamou special teams got into the act on the ensuing kickoff when Payton Vidrine brought the ball up the Demon 49-yard line. On the very first play from scrimmage, Kyrian Green took the jet sweep handoff and raced untouched down the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown run.
Daylon Ardoin added the two-point run, and with 6:11 to go in the first half, Ville Platte’s lead had been cut to 12-8.
With the gap closed down to four, the Bulldogs needed a response. Taking over at its 27-yard line following the Demon kickoff, Ville Platte pushed the ball down to the Mamou three-yard line in six plays.
On second and goal from the Demon three-yard line, Roy followed Byers on the veer keep and plunged across the goal line for the score. Roy tacked on the two-point run, extending the Bulldog lead to 20-8 with 2:50 to go in the second quarter.
Undaunted, Mamou pushed another good return into Ville Platte territory. Starting at the Bulldog 47-yard line, the Demons managed to work their way down to the 20-yard line.
Facing second and 12, Ardoin threw a perfect pass to Payton Vidrine who in turn found pay dirt for the second Mamou touchdown on the night with 36 ticks left on the clock. Ardoin then hit Justin Fontenot on the two-point pass to bring the score back down to 20-16 as the teams headed into the locker room.
The third quarter was a wash, as each team committed a turnover deep inside their opponent’s territory. The second turnover, a Mamou fumble at the Ville Platte seven-yard line, actually set up the next score of the game.
With their backs to the end zone, the Bulldogs were only able to secure three yards before being forced to punt the ball away. Mamou got the ball back on the Ville Platte 20-yard line following a 10 yard punt from the Bulldogs.
The Demons reached the Ville Platte five-yard line in five plays. However, Mamou lost 11 yards on the next two plays setting up a fourth and goal from the Bulldog 16-yard line.
On the following play, Ardoin rolled out to his left to pass the ball but faced heavy Ville Platte pressure. The Demon quarterback turned back to the right, and fired a ball toward the back of the end zone where Vidrine snatched it out of the air just inches away from being out of bounds.
The scoring play and the two-point run by Green put Mamou on top for the first time in the game, as the Demons now led 24-20 with 7:55 to go in the contest.
The Bulldogs took the next possession and moved the ball all the way down to the Mamou 31-yard line. But, on first and 15, Ville Platte fumbled the ball away, with a little over two minutes to go.
Two Demon penalties on their next drive put them back to their 17-yard line, killing any chance of running out the clock as they were forced to punt the ball back to the Bulldogs. On the snap, the ball went over punter Devin Messer’s head.
Messer picked up the ball and got the punt off, but the ball only traveled out to the Demon 16-yard line.
With less than a minute to go in the game, Ville Platte had once last chance to take over the lead, maybe for good. Two runs and an incomplete pass later, the Bulldogs faced a fourth and six from the Mamou 12-yard line.
With 15 seconds showing on the clock, Roy took the snap and dropped back to pass. Under pressure, Roy scrambled to his right and heaved the ball in to the end zone where it was picked off by the Demons to end the game.
Ardoin finished the night with 58 yards on 11 carries and was seven of nine for 100 yards through the air with two touchdowns. Vidrine hauled in three passes for 69 yards and two scores.
Byers ended the game with 163 yards on 29 carries. Roy completed five of 12 passes for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Tyler Jones hauled in two catches for 43 yards and a touchdown.