Proving time

In what has been a Ville Platte High dominated series, the Pine Prairie Panthers have proven that they can play with the Bulldogs.
Out of the nine times the two teams have hooked up on the gridiron, Ville Platte (1-3, 1-1) has won eight times. However, only four of those games have really been blown outs.
The Panthers (0-6, 0-2) will have the opportunity again this season to prove themselves against Ville Platte High when the inter-parish rivals suit up against each other tomorrow night in Pine Prairie.
The District 5-3A contest is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m.
“This has become somewhat of a rivalry because there are some players from Ville Platte that play in Pine Prairie,” stated Ville Platte High head coach Jorie Randle. “So, they get hyped up to play each other so that they can gain some bragging rights. Overall, I think it is a competitive series and I think this year’s game will be the same. It seems that we are very similar in a lot of ways.”
Ville Platte comes off a week in which they were not able to play against Church Point due to a COVID-19 scare. Two weeks age, in a loss to Iota, the Bulldogs found out that a player from Iota had tested positive from the virus.
When one of their players was not feeling well, Randle informed the administration, which in turn took the necessary precautions. Test results on the player came back negative but were not in time for the Church Point game to be played.
Now that the Bulldogs are back on the field of play, Randle says the two days of down time last week really did not upset the energy of the team.
“Basically we got Friday off,” said Randle. “One positive thing is that it gave us a few extra days to heal any injuries we may have. Other than that, the players are excited about playing Pine Prairie and it shows in their practices.”
This young Ville Platte team has not had a ton of success this season, but has weathered the storm enough to pick up a win three weeks ago against Mamou. Although that win in the only one on the year for the Bulldogs, Randle believes that his team is starting to become more and more seasoned each week.
“It’s funny how things work,” commented Randle. “When we started we had about 37 players but we could only really count on about 15 that were actually ready to play. Now, we are down to about 32 players, but we have 24 players that we can rely on to get in the game and be productive. I told the underclassmen that it was time they start playing like veterans being they have some playing time under their belts.”
If Ville Platte has some game experience with only four games played on the year, Pine Prairie should be considered grizzled veterans. The Panthers have not missed a week of playing so far this season, even getting a Wednesday night game in before Hurricane Laura hit.
That fact is not lost on Pine Prairie head coach Richard Clark.
“I know it does not show it in terms of wins and losses, but I really believe we have come a long way as a team so far this season,” said Clark. “We started with a very young group of players that had to be molded into football players and everyday that we come out here on the field you can see the progress they are making. It is fun to see them light up when they do the right thing.”
The progress was indeed showing for Pine Prairie, as their games became more and more competitive each week. That was until this past week when they ran into a very talented St. Edmund Blue Jay squad.
Utilizing their athleticism and experience, the Blue Jays took down the Panthers 69-6.
Despite the big loss, Clark is optimistic that last week’s game was just an anomaly on the team’s quest the rest of the season.
“We’re going to be okay,” commented Clark. “These players really want to win a game before the season ends and they are showing that in the practices this week. We just have to continue to try and be more consistent both offensively and defensively. Doing that, I believe, will translate into a win.”
Both coaches had good things to say about their opponents and pointed to the fact that each squad was very similar in a number of ways.
“Pine Prairie has some very talented players on their team,” said Randle. “They hustle all over the field and they never give in no matter what. Both of us are very young and have been getting better each week. It should be a pretty good match-up Friday night.”
Clark agreed.
“Just like us, I think Ville Platte has not played up to their potential,” stated Clark. “When you look at them on film, you can see that they are young, but play hard and physical. We are going to have to come ready to play if we want to have the chance to pick up that first win of the year.”