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."

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."

Pine Prairie picks up its first win on the season against Pearl River

Pearl River with a record of 2-0 meandered from the banks of the river bearing the same name to the banks of Bayou Nezpique for a matchup against the 0-2 Panthers. The visitors beat a Pine team 20-19 in week 1 then came back in week 2 and pummeled Sci Academy 47-6. The home team came in after suffering defeats to Bunkie and Beau Chene.

"We came out and played a good first half," said head coach Yves Prince of his Pine Prairie team against Beau Chene. "And if we can put two halves together and be successful, then we have a great chance of winning the ballgame (tonight). We got Douglas Fontenot back tonight, and we got a chance to move the ball with Douglas and Dylan (Doucet) tonight."

Prince got exactly what he was looking for and more as his team picked up its first win of the season by a score of 32-31. The Panther offense was sparked by the thunder and lightening duo of Douglas Fontenot and Dylan Doucet. Fontenot in the first half collected 103 yards rushing and 141 yards on kick returns. He finished the night with 180 yards rushing and 166 yards on kick returns. Doucet at quarterback added 84 rushing yards on the night.

With Pine Prairie down 31-26 with 7:55 remaining on the clock in the game, Pearl River took over at the 43 yard line. Tucker Deshotel sacked the Rebel quarterback for a loss of 5. The Rebels were later penalized 5 yards for false start setting up 2nd and 20. Then on 3rd and 20, the pass down field was broken up and almost intercepted by Dylan Doucet.

The punt went out of bounds as the Panthers took over at their own 42 yard line. Dylan Doucet picked up a first down on a quarterback sneak to the 40 yard line of Pearl River. Joshua Fontenot then ran up the middle for another 1st down. On fourth down as the drive appeared to stall, Dylan Doucet with another keeper rushed for a gain of enough real estate for a first down and more setting up 1st and 10 at the 16 yard line. It was 2nd and 9 after a Douglas Fontenot run. After a Pine Prairie time out Doucet ran down the near side for a 15 yard touchdown. The score after a failed two-point conversion attempt was 32-31 with :59 in the game. Devin Leggett forced a turnover for the Pantherts, and they went into victory formation with 31 seconds remaining on the clock to preseve the victory.

"Douglas is not in shape at the moment, but I'll tell you what he did a great job tonight," said his head coach after the game. "And I thank the Lord for having him back. It's a big boost to the team. Our offensive line came around... and we played good defense."

"We came from behind to win. To come from behind against a 4-A school, I think we're headed in the right direction."

The thunder and lighteing show started with Dylan Doucet returning the kick near to midfield following a Rebel touchdown that made the score 7-0 with 2:50 remaining in the first quarter, but offsetting penallties resulted in a rekick. Douglas Fontenot on the rekick returned it 65 yards to the Rebel 15 yard line for 1st and 10 putting the wheels in motion to set up the tying score as Doucet kept the football himself.

Douglas Fontenot began the second quarter with another kickoff return for 79 yards down to the Rebel 13 yard line. Josh Fontenot then would pick up a 1st down at the 1-yard line for 1st and goal. Pine Prairie scored another touchdown on a quarterback keeper this time from a yard out. The two point conversion went incomplete so the scoreboard read 14-12 with 9:43 before halftime.
Douglas Fontenot found a couple seams a few possessions later for a touchdown carry of 78 yards as the first half clock expired. Pearl River lead 21-20 at the half. Dylan Doucet founds some seams of his own in the tbird quarter for a 54-yard touchdown run, but a holding penalty negated the score.


Following a Rebel field goal from 31 yards out to make the score 31-20, the Panthers began at the 50 yard line. Doucet's pass appeared to be complete to Joshua Fontenot for a Panther 1st down, but it was ruled incomplete as the pass hit the ground on the reception. Douglas Fontenot again found the endzone after a gain of 45 yards.

"Next week is Mamou," added Prince after the game. "And it's at home again, and we play Tara another 4-A school. So we got a chance to win the next two games and get ready for district."

BUNKIE VS PINE PRAIRIE FOOTBALL

Pine Prairie kicked off its season on a warm and humid Friday night at home in what was called "The Battle of Highway 49" and "The Panther Bowl" and succomed to the visiting Panthers of Bunkie by a final score of 48-14. The Bunkie offensive force was propelled by senior running back Joseph Murray, who amassed 277 rushing yards on 12 carries for four touchdowns. Pine Prairie's closest answer was Dylan Doucet garnering 90 yards rushing on 8 rushes for a touchdown.

"We've seen some good things from our younger players," said assistant coack Jack O'Steen. "We're running a new offense. It's gonna take a little bit for it to get rolling."

The game started with Pine Prairie having nowhere to go as Bunkie was controlling the line of scrimmage. Bunkie took over after a punt at its own 44-yard line. On second and 10, Murray carried the football down to the Pine Prairie 25-yard line for a gain of 31 yards. Two plays later Jon'Ques Williams took it the rest of the way for a touchdown. Bunkie after a missed extra point attemopt led the contest 6-0 with 8:35 remaining in the first quarter thus setting the tone early.
Pine Prairie again went three-and-out and was forced to punt. Bunkie in a shot gun formation saw a deep pass completed to Jacob Boatner to the Pine Prairie 43-yard line. The subsequent plays from scrimmage saw some resistance from the home team as evidenced by Josh Fontenot and Gaten Chaddrick bringing up second and 11 on a slow developing play. The resistance proved futile as the Bunkie possession resulted in Murray's first touchdown of the night from five yards out making the score 13-0.

The next possession of Bunkie saw a greater Pine Prairie resistance as the tandem of Corryn Anderson and Jeremiah O'Steen provided a big stop on third down which led to the visitors turning the ball over on downs. The momentum appeared to switch sidelines as the home team saw a glimmer of hope on offense. Dylan Doucet carried for a gain of five resulting in third and short at the 42 yard line. Chaddrick then converted for a first down at the 45-yard line. The glimmer of hope soon faded as pass incompletions led to another Pine Prairie punt.

Bunkie began the next series with its worst starting position of the night but ended it with Murray busting loose around the right side and finding some running room for another touchdown. The KZLG radio team commented that was "running a lot more physical tonight that he did in the jamboree against Marksville."

The first half ended with Bunkie leading 20-0, and the second half began with Murray breaking loose early in the third quarter for a 65-yard touchdown run. With his team down 27-0, Dylan Doucet sprinted down the right side for a 95 yard touchdown. At the 6:13 mark of the third quarter the score was 27-6 after a failed 2 point conversion attempt.

After Bunkie fumbled and Pine Prairie returned the favor by coughing up a fumble of its own, Fred Weber ran it in for a touchdown to increase the lead to 34-6. Jeremy Lewis for Bunkie provided another touchdown on its ensuing possession. Dylan Doucet then took the ball down to Pine Prairie's 45-yard line on the kick. A couple of snaps later Ahmad Fontenot on the option picked up a 1st down at Bunkie's 38-yard line. The freshman Jordan Ardoin on a quarterback keeper broke loose for a big gain setting up 1st and goal at the 10 yard line. Coming out of the I formation, the play resulted for a Pine Prairie by touchdown Ardoin. Brandt Deville converted on the two point conversion as time expired.


O'Steen said of his freshman signal caller after the game, "He showed us some good things tonight."

The Pine Prairie Panthers takes their 0-1 record on the road next week to Arnaudville as they visit the Beau Chene Gators. As to the rest of the season, O'Steen commented, "We just got a lot of work to do. We're gonna keep working hard... We got a long season, so I'm sure Pine Prairie will continue those long strides to continue."

Trojans defeat Highland Baptist

The Lady Trojans opened the playoffs with a win against Highland Baptist Monday night behind three perfectly pitched innings from Elizabeth Soileau. “The game was very well played,” said coach Patrick Richey. “Our whole season has been well played this year. We just gotta keep our hitting and our bats done. Our fielding has been coming on really strong.”

Soileau started the game retiring Highland Baptist in order, and she led off the bottom of the inning with a single. Courtney Vidrine singled setting up a 2-RBI single for Gabby Andrepont. Morgan Touchet then pitched her way out of trouble to end the inning.

The second inning featured Soileau again retiring Highland Baptist in order. Hannah Lemoine picked up a ball at short stop off the bat of Amelia Provost and threw to Andrepont at first base to record the third out of the inning, but an illegal pitch was called on Soileau. A pitch later Provost again grounded to Lemoine who threw to Andrepont for the out. As Yogi Berra would say, “It's déjà vu all over again."   

Touchet found a groove in the bottom of the second inning despite two Lady Trojans being left on base. Laura Beth Fontenot reached on an error, and Vidrine got on base with a two out walk.

The script continued for Soileau in the top of the third inning as she retired the side in order. The Lady Trojans then exploded in the bottom of the inning with 12 runs, eight hits, and two errors as they sent 14 hitters to the plate. Deuces were wild in the inning as Kara Aguillard hit two doubles and scored two runs and as Caroline Fontenot and Sydney Fontenot both scored two runs. Vidrine added a triple after the visitors went to the bullpen bringing in Haley Peters and Lemoine added a double four batters later.

“We’re looking forward to our next game against whoever we get to play,” added Richey. “Hopefully after tonight we’ll get to see who it is, and then we’ll figure out when we’re gonna play.” His questions were answered as tenth ranked St. Edmund defeated 23^rd ranked Northwood-Lena 9-8. The Lady Trojans host the Lady Blue Jays Wednesday with a trip to Sulpher on the line.

Playoffs: Mamou vs Northeast Lady Vikings

The Mamou Lady Demons hosted the opening round of the basketball playoffs Thursday night as the Vikings came North by Northeast. The theme of the first half was the Demons forcing turnovers, but they could not capitalize as the ball rattled off the rim. The Mamou band providesd the halftime entertainment from the corner of Section A belting out such tunes as Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror." As the lyrics of the song suggest, the Lady Demons during the break were taking a look at themselves and then make that change in their style of play on the night. However, they fell victim by a final score of 60-48.
"In the first quarter, we couldn't convert the easy (shots)," said head coach Mark Temple. "The free throws hurt us and (Northeast's) size. They had a good inside presence... I appreciate my girls and love their effort. They gave their all."
Mikeisha Causey scored a basket for Northeast to take a 2-0 lead with 4:26 left in the quarter. The fans at that point began encouraging the Lady Demons, "We gotta make our shots." Darelzray Wilson responded as she laid it up and in under the net to tie the game at 2 to get the boisterous crowd on its feet. Arkieyanah Thomas responded as well as she stole the basketball away and scored to tie the game at 4 in the waning seconds of the opening quarter. The quarter ends with the Lady Vikings leading by 2 at 6-4.
At the 4:52 mark Thomas headed to the line and split a pair of free throws cutting the score to 11-7, then Bellard drained a three pointer to cut the deficit within 1 point. The Lady Vikings increased the lead on back to back to back scores and started seizing control of the game. With 3:40 to go in the half, the Lady Vikings lead 18-10. Bellard added two points from the charity line with 3:03 in the half to make the score 18-12. It was a good year for Louisiana but a bad score for Mamou.
Thomas drained a three pointer, and the score was 20-15 with 1:58 to go in the half. The Lady Vikings took a double-digit lead heading into halftime with the score being 25-15. Lauri Kight started the second half by muscleing her way on the court to put up baskets. Mamou called a timeout at the 5:53 mark with the team down 31-15 and got on the board in the half with a basket from Tia Gallow.
With Mamou down 34-22, the team was again starting to impose its will on defense giving the offense a chance to get back in the game. However, it appeared the Lady Vikings were adjusting on both ends of the court.
Gallow scored from under the net and was fouled. At the 1:43 mark of the third quarter, Mamou was down again by 10 points. Bellard drained another trey cutting the deficit to single digits, but the Lady Vikings answered. Kiajah Wilson again brought the deficit within single digits. That is how the third quarter ended with the Lady Vikings up 42-33.
The final eight minutes of play began with "Let's go defense" echoing through the Mamou gym. The score hovered around the same point margin in the first half of the final quarter of play, but the lady Vikings broke the half century mark on the scoreboard with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game. The visiting team led 51-37. Bellard would not go away quietly as she knocked down a couple of three pointers to close out the game, but it was proverbially too little too late.
The Lady Demons will now have to wait until next season to hang another banner from the rafters commerating a trip to the Sweet 16. "We had a good season at 22-9 and are still young," said Temple after the game. "We got a lot of building blocks   around us."

Pine Prairie Boys vs Church Point

            Chris Guillory talked before the game about the basketball landscape in Class 3-A. To paraphrase him said… The past couple of years we’ve gone from Class B to 2-A to 3-A. We didn’t see much of a change going from B to 2-A playing teams like Glenmora, Rapides, Chataignier, Bayou Chicot, and Vidrine. But going to 3-A last year we saw a huge difference in the style of play with the more competitive teams. A couple years ago Red River came in here and beat us in the playoffs and went on to win the state championship. You put that team in 3-A, and they probably won’t even make the playoffs.

            His Panthers played one such team Tuesday night as the Church Point Bears came to town. Javon Ardoin scored the first bucket to go up 2-0 at the 7:30 mark. Sylus Carsus picked up the offensive rebound and the basket to go up 4-2. Josh Freeman then drained a three pointer from the deep corner of the key to go up 8-2.

            Allen Myles and Ardoin combined to give the Panthers a 12-2 lead going into the 4:14 mark. It seemed the game was well at hand for the Panthers, but the Bears went on a run and clawed back into the game. At the half the Panthers lead 33-30. Church point sunk a bucket coming out the half, and then the Panthers later answered to retake the lead. Freeman drained another three pointer from the corner of the key with just over 5 minutes to go in the quarter.

The bandaged Carson, who previously suffered a laceration above his right eye, stopped bleeding but did not stop believing on the journey as he extended the lead 46-42 for the Panthers. He followed it up with another bucket to go up 48-42 and was good on the three-point play. Going into the final 8 minutes of play in Pine Prairie, the Panthers lead 49-47.

Freeman once again buried a three pointer to go up 52-47. With a full timeout called on the court at the 4:20 mark, the Panthers were high above the Bears by a score of 59-53. Carson buried another 3 pointer with just under a minute to play to go up 66-61 and to secure the win by a final score of 72-61.

With the win the Panthers are 6-0 in district and have a chance to finish district play undefeated and host the opening game in the playoffs.