Acadiana Travels To Ponchatoula For A Playoff Showdown – Game Preview

The following is a game preview of the Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams second round playoff game against Ponchatoula, written by the voice of the Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams, James P. Bitterman.

The Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams upped their home playoff record under head Coach Ted Davidson to 23-0 last week with an impressive 52-0 win over the Alexandria Senior High Trojans.

The Terrible Turk defense was outstanding, intercepting 6 ASH passes, returning 2 for touchdowns.  The veer machine contributed 367 yards of total offense, five touchdowns and a field goal.

Now the Wreckin’ Rams travel to Ponchatoula, where in the 2014 playoffs, Acadiana played 1 of the 2 best games I have seen them play, defeating the Green Wave 38-28 in the second round.

In 2015, Acadiana travelled to Ponchatoula for a week 2 regular season game and played a very bad game in a 0-26 loss to Ponchatoula where the Rams had only 83 yards of total offense.

This year Ponchatoula came to Bill Dotson Stadium for a week 2 matchup that saw the Wreckin Rams race out to a 14-0 lead and hold a 23-14 halftime lead. However, the Wreckin’ Rams could get nothing going on their 4 second half possessions, each ending in a punt, fumble, punt and interception.  Ponchatoula's 9 man front stifled the Wreckin’ Rams, while their offense scored 10 second half points, helping the Wave win the game 24-23.

The game was as close as the score indicated with AHS accumulating 374 yards of total offense to Ponchatoula’s 363 yards.  AHS lost the turnover battle 3-0.

Now a playoff rematch!  Ponchatoula is led by senior quarterback Ja'Kyle Holmes who has 1,412 yards rushing on 190 attempts and 20 touchdowns.  Holmes has also added 941 yards passing and 4 touchdowns.  Acadiana must be cognizant of Ponchatoula's battering running back, J'uan Gross, 5' 11" 230 pounds, who has 603 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.

I'm sure the Veer Machine will see plenty of 9 man fronts from Ponchatoula, as those 9 man fronts stifled the Veer Machine in the second half of the game in week 2.

What will Coach Davidson and the offensive coaching staff have planned?  We will see.

The pre game show starts at 6:02 p.m. and can be heard over the air in the Acadiana area on the AM dial at ESPN1420, on the internet at espn1420.com, and on free smart phone app RadioPup.