Friday, October 16, 2015

Bears visit Panthers on Thursday night


Coming off of a loss to the Northwest Raiders, the Pine Prairie Panthers looked to even their record in 5 3-A. Standing in their way was a Church Point Bear team ranked number 4 in the state. The Panthers fell victim to big plays and costly penalties as the Bears proved smarter than the average bear and left town with all the picnic baskets. Church Point after the win improved to 2-0 in distrcit as Pine Prairie fell to 0-2.
"They got a good ball club," said Panther had coach Yves Prince of his opponents across the field. "I wish them all the luck. I hope they can win the district."
Prince then went on to talk about a few positives on the night. "Well we got out of it with nobody getting seriously hurt. We scored a few points. We played good defese at times. The thing I think is the most positive thing we moved the ball on a good defense."
The visiting Bears began the opening drive at their own 35 yard line. Dylan Doucet was credited for a tackle on third down, but a facemask penalty against Pine Prairie kept the drive alive. Frederick Willimas was then tackled for a loss after being wrapped up by Clint Graser and Doucet. Troy Matte's pass was wide open to Williams who was brought down at the 5 yard line and who ran around the tackle for a five yard touchdown run two plays later.
The first quarter ended with Church Point leading 14-0 and getting favorable field position as the next 12-minutes of play began. Following a personal foul penalty against the Bears that backed them up 15 yards to the 25 yard line, Deshawn Wheeler picked up 6 yards. Kylance Castille then ran down the near side all the way to the Panther 35, but a holding penalty negated the pick up. Williams later on the reverse went down the far side for a 75-yard score to go up 20-0.
The Panthers fumbled on their next possession, and the Bears capitalized on Matte's pass completion in the end zone to Williams. The Bears recovered the fumble again on the next possession. This time they capitalized on a Wheeler reception for a 46 yard touchdown. Church Point scored again in the first half and led by a score of 41-0.

Dylan Doucet picked up the squib kick on the second half kick off and returned it the 37-yard line. Doucet kept the football himself and crossed the 50 for a 1st down. Douglas Fontenot then exploited a gap fora 49-yard touchdown run cutting into the Church Point lead.
Church Point convened its next drive with junior quarterback Logan Marks under center. Marks handed off to Jonathon Duplechain for an eight yard pick up. Marks handed off to Donavvon Gallow on back-to-back snaps setting up 4th and 2. A delay of game penalty backed up the Bears five yards. Marks handed off to Duplechain who got stopped for a turn over on downs.
Pine Prairie took over on the 46 yard line after the turn over on downs. Douglas Fontenot carried along the near side for a 1st down and more all the way to the Bear 34 yard line. Doucet crossed the 25 yard line for a 9 yard gain and then picked up the first down on a play fake. The third quarter ended with the Panthers turning the ball over on downs and giving it back to the Bears.
Marks again was under center and was sacked on first down by Clint Graser. Douglas Fontenot picked up the ball on the fumble for a 35-yard touchdown return again chipping away at the lead. Church Point led by the eventual final score 41-13 with 10:27 remaining on the clock.

"We looking forward down the road, and we're glad nobody got hurt," Prince said. "We looking forward to play Port Barre, and we need one win to secure us a spot for the playoffs. That's what we're working hard for."

Friday, October 9, 2015

Homecoming night in Mamou


Friday night was the midway point of the season for the Mamou football team. The squad came into the season as a young team having only three seniors. It faced tough out-of-district play against Ville Platte, Pine Prairie, and Oberlin. Distirct play which started on the night would get even tougher against teams like Welsh, Kinder, and Lake Arthur.
Friday night was also Homecoming at Green Demon Field. The capacity crowd was treated to festivities such as a Mamou fire truck hoisting up an American Flag and an Air EVAC Lifeteam helicopter flyover delivering the game ball at midfield that was presented to Coach Bobby Pommier. Other festivities included a pyrotechnic display as maid Caitlin Fontenot was crowned 2015 Homecoming Queen. The festivities; however, did not translate over onto the field against the aforementined Tigers of Lake Arthur. The home team came up short on the night by a score of 40-0.
Following a Mamou punt to begin the game, the Tigers started with a short field as the punt came down on the Demon 33 yard line. Lake Arthur ran a touchdown in from 5 yards out to go up 7-0 with 7:19 remaining in the first quarter. The visitors would go on to score on their next three possessions of the first half as the Mamou defense seemed to have no answer. Mamou trailed at halftime 26-0.
Mamou appeared to get something going offensively in the second half. Levi Fontenot eluded a couple of Tiger defenders for a gain of 21 yards to the Demon 49 yard line. The drive soon stalled at midfield following a sack on second down bringing up a punt. Mamou's offense took over at midfield after the defense held the Tigers to a three-and-out. Fontenot's pass was complete to Paul Williams for a first down at the Tiger 40 yard line. A pass again was complete to Paul Williams, but the Demons were penalized for illegal shift resulting in 1st and 15 from the 45 yard line. Fontenot's pass was intercerpted at the Tiger 28 yard where Lake Arthur took over.

The Tigers then drove down the field but lost a fumble that was forced and picked up by Trey Wilson at the 10 yard line. Wilson returned the ball across midfield. A late hit out of bounds and a face mask penalty on the return gave the Demons a 1st down inside Tiger territory at the 26 yard line. On the next play from scrimmage, Lake Arthur forced a fumble as Mamou taketh and giveth away to close out the 3rd quarter. At the end of the 3rd quarter Lake Arthur led 33-0
Levi Fontenot got injured in the fourth quarter, and Adam Chapman came in the game behind center. He led his troops down field and into the end zone for Mamou's only touchdown of the night with just over four minutes remaining in the contest.
"I thought our kids played hard tonight," commented Green Demon head coach Brian Brumfield. "At times we had some bursts. We stopped them a few times on defense, and other times we didn't do as well. Lake Arthur has a good running back, and he's hard to tackle. For the most part, I thought our kids played well. We just got to get a lot stronger."