Winning in phases

MAMOU – In what seemed like a make or break game for both squads, the Pine Prairie Panthers scored in every phase of the game to take a 25-6 non-district win over the Mamou Green Demons here Friday night.
With the win, Pine Prairie improves to 2-2 on the season and will host Tara High School out of Baton Rouge this coming Friday.
Mamou falls to 0-4 on the year and will host Oakdale in their final non-district game this Thursday.
After the game, the two head coaches both agreed that the play of the big men up front was the key to the outcome of the game.
“Coming into the game, I knew they would take the toss away from us,” stated Pine Prairie head coach Yves Prince. “So, I really thought that we could run the fullback up the middle and take advantage of our size up front. The way our offensive and defensive lines played tonight was a big key to the win.”
“Pine Prairie changed up their front look on the defensive line and that blew our kid’s mind,” commented Mamou head coach Brian Brumfield. “At half time I told them that defenses are going to switch on you, but you have to make the adjustment and we were just not able to do that.”
The control of the football game came early for the Panthers. After kicking off to Mamou, Pine Prairie held the Demons to a four and out on their first offensive possession. A botched snap on the punt attempt was recovered by Pine Prairie at the Mamou 25-yard line.
The Panthers wasted no time, as they marched the 25 yards in eight plays and scored their first time touching the ball. Clint Graser blasted in from two yards out to put Pine Prairie on the board. The extra point was no good, but the Panthers held a 6-0 lead with 6:20 left in the first quarter.
The rest of the quarter was quiet, as the two teams exchanged possessions.
Pine Prairie got the ball back midway through the second quarter after a Mamou punt. The Panthers proceeded to march 80 yards down the field in 12 plays and scored on a 30-yard pass play from Brian Ardoin to Isaiah Payne to add to their lead. The extra point was good and the Panthers led 13-0 with 3:27 left in the half.
Probably the nail in the coffin for the Demons came on the kickoff to start the second half, as JJ Sims sailed 65 yards for the special teams score. Even with the extra point being wide right, Pine Prairie now had a commanding 19-0 lead.
Mamou did try to gain some momentum back in the third quarter. The Demons took their opening possession of the second half and drove 64 yards on four plays to put up their only points of the game. The drive was capped off by a 27-yard sprint over the left side by Demon running back Joab Perron. The extra point was no good, but with 10:58 left in the third quarter, the score was cut to 19-6.
The gain in momentum was only short lived for Mamou, however, as Pine Prairie did not allow the Demons inside their territory the rest of the night.
The Panthers completed their scoring, utilizing the defensive unit for the final touchdown.
With 6:03 left to go in the game and Mamou facing a third and 17 at their 38-yard line, Sims picked off an errant pass from Levi Fontenot and sprinted 55 yards for the score. Once again the extra point was off the mark, but the Panthers now had a 25-6 lead.
“Being 2-2 at this stage of the season is really big for us,” said Prince. “Hopefully we can carry the confidence from this game into the rest of the season. Our main goal is to keep picking up wins and try to get into the playoffs.”
“We are just going to have to regroup,” stated Brumfield. “I know our players are young, but eventually we will have to put it together and find a way to play a complete game. We continue to play hard though and I am proud that our players have not given up.”