Tom Dodge
The Blue Jays stopped Ville Platte on a two-point conversion in 29 seconds left in the game as St. Edmund earned a 35-33 win over Ville Platte.
The start was delayed for nearly two hours because of lightning in the area.
But it was the thunder of the Blue Jay defense that proved to be the deciding factor.
Ville Platte trailed 35-27 with 3:01 remaining in the contest and the Bulldogs moved 91 yards in nine plays – capped by a six-yard run by Terrian Roy.
The play of the game then happened when the Blue Jays stopped Jahmal Byers short of the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt as St. Edmund held on for the thrilling win.
It seemed to be the Bulldogs game early when Ville Platte’s Jahmal Byers appeared to have scored on a 71-yard run on the game’s first possession.
But an inadvertent whistle stopped the play and the defenses then took over.
After both teams exchanged punts, the Bulldogs then drove 67 yards in just four plays – capped by a 46-yard touchdown run by Roy.
Anthony Johnson’s PAT gave Ville Platte a 7-0 lead with 5:42 left in the first period.
The St. Edmund offense struggled early, fumbling the ball back to the Bulldogs twice in the first quarter.
After the forcing Ville Platte to punt after both turnovers, the Blue Jays moved 43 yards in just three plays, highlighted by a 53-yard touchdown run by Kieran Davis.
Josh Landry’s PAT tied the game 7-7 with 10:21 left in the second period.
Landry would intercept Roy’s pass to stop the Bulldogs, but the Jays couldn’t move the ball and SEH was forced to punt.
It took Ville Platte just three plays to score on a 55-yard pass from Roy to Ernest Roberts.
Johnson’s PAT with 4:11 left gave the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead.
That advantage quickly evaporated when Peyton Marcantel scored on a 78-yard kickoff return.
The extra point failed, but the Blue Jays closed the gap to 14-13 with 3:59 remaining in the half.
Ville Platte responded with a 62-yard drive that only took three plays, capped off with a 49-yard by Byers.
The PAT failed, but the Bulldogs took a 20-13 lead into intermission.
The St. Edmund offense exploded with two touchdowns on long drive in the third quarter to grab the crucial lead.
The Blue Jays moved 66 yards in 11 plays that took 6:37 off the clock, finished when Henry Brown connected with Gus Brown for a nine-yard touchdown.
The two-point conversion failed, but SEH had closed the margin to 20-19 with 5:18 left in the period.
The Jays recovered the kick and set up their next drive at the Ville Platte 44.
The two-play drive was completed with a 7-yard run by Marcantel, who ran in the two-point conversion to push the Jays ahead, 27-20 with 4:42 remaining in the quarter.
After forcing Ville Platte to punt, the Blue Jay offense continued its ball control to erase time off the clock – driving 55 yards in 11 plays.
Davis scored from eight yards out and Henry Brown found Will Turk open for the two-point conversion as St. Ed’s led 35-20 with 8:02 left in the game.
The Bulldogs would not go away quietly as Ville Platte responded with a five play, 71-yard drive, finished with a 62-yard scoring run by Roy.
Johnson’s PAT closed the gap to 35-27 with 5:52 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Ville Platte defense forced the Jays to punt after a three plays went eight yards to set up the exciting final three minutes.
St. Edmund (3-2) will open District 5-1A action Thursday at Opelousas Catholic.
The undefeated Vikings rolled to a 42-21 win over Port Allen to improve to 5-0 on the season.