Patterson will face Ville Platte in round 1

No. 4 Patterson High School will open the Class 3A playoffs at home Friday against No. 29 seed Ville Platte.
Ville Platte comes into the game with a 5-5 overall mark and a 2-3 finish in District 5-3A. They fell in their regular season finale to Church Point, 34-6, a week ago.
“They’re really good defensively,” Patterson head coach Chad Blanchard said. “They have a lot of guys that play on both sides of the football, but (Von’darius Freeman’s) a great football player. The big defensive lineman. He’s a kid that moved from Texas when he was a sophomore or after his sophomore year, and his sophomore year, he was at a 4A school in Texas where he was the district MVP, so you can watch him on field. He sticks out. … He’s a good football player.”
Other two-way players of note besides Freeman, who stands 6-feet, 3-inches and weighs 315-pounds, are Tralon Thomas, a linebacker and offensive lineman, and Breshonski Jones, a defensive lineman and offensive lineman.
“All those guys do a great job,” Blanchard said. “They have some real good football players.”
On defense, Blanchard said Ville Platte lines up in a 4-2-5 look.
“They play a lot of zone coverage behind it,” he said.
Offensively, the Bulldogs give multiple looks.
“Offensively, a lot of double slot where they get in a variety of different formations, mainly out of one-back, but they will get in some three-back sets,” Blanchard said. “Run some conventional power, toss out of shotgun sets.”
Daylon Jones has rushed 210 times for 945 yards and five touchdowns.
Quarterback Terez Alfred has rushed for 302 yards and seven touchdowns. He also has completed 16-of-54 passes for 320 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
“They’re a pretty run-heavy team,” Blanchard said. “Run … I think we charted about 86 percent of the time. They do a great job of spreading the ball out to different guys.
“They’re not a great draw for us, to be honest with you, as a 29 seed because they’ve got some good players, but the kids are excited. It’s the playoff game. It’s a little bit different kind of atmosphere at practice.
“We’ve got a senior class that’s been in the playoffs now every year since they’ve been here, and they’re excited about it. We’ve picked up the tempo at practice. They’re ready to go, and we look forward to Friday night,” Blanchard said.
Patterson clinched the outright District 8-3A title a week ago with a 43-14 win against Franklin.
However, Blanchard was not pleased with his team’s performance.
“It was a (letdown),” he said. “It’s a tough game when it’s week 10. The guys were probably looking ahead a little bit. It wasn’t a real, real good atmosphere. It sounded more like a library than a high school football game, to be honest with you, and it was hard for the guys to get pumped and excited about the game. … You’re going to go through that during a 10-game season. … We fought through it, and now we get to move on and see what happens in the playoffs.”
Patterson is led this season by quarterback Sirbatian Charles. He has rushed 96 times for 552 yards and eight touchdowns and has completed 110 of 166 passes for 1,741 yards with 23 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
D.J. Jones has rushed 57 times for 609 yards and nine touchdowns to lead the Patterson rushers. He also has caught 25 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns.
Tristen Ausama has rushed 96 times for 552 yards and eight touchdowns and has caught 14 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Nehemiah Augustus leads Patterson’s wide receivers with 28 catches for 498 yards and seven touchdowns, while Brennan Gouaux has caught 16 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Blue chip prospect Mykel Jones has hauled in 16 passes for 294 yards and six touchdowns.
Friday’s game will begin at 7 p.m.