Port Barre runs past Pine Prairie 28-0

PORT BARRE -- There’s a truism in football: The team that wins the turnover battle wins the game. Port Barre proved the adage, capitalizing on three Pine Prairie turnovers to shut-out the Panthers, 28-0, here Friday evening.
The Red Devils intercepted two passes in the first half and recovered a second-half fumble.
Each of those turnovers directly led to a touchdown.
Plus, Port Barre benefited from a Panther penalty on a play that would have resulted in a Red Devil turnover. Instead, Port Barre kept the ball, ending the drive with a touchdown.
The Red Devils improve to 5-3 overall, picking up their first win in District 5-3A. Pine Prairie falls to 4-4 and is 0-3 in district play.
Next week, Pine Prairie travels to Ville Platte for the Bulldogs’ homecoming. The Bulldogs dropped a squeaker, 6-0, to Northwest Friday evening.
Port Barre travels to Eunice to play league-leading Eunice, who tops the 3A power rankings.
Eunice is 3-0 in district play, having beaten 4th-ranked Church Point, 37-6, Friday.
Panther head coach Yves Prince was disappointed after the loss. “We had two or three really good opportunities to score,” he lamented, “but we just didn’t do it.”
“Let me give credit to Port Barre,” he added. “They’ve got a really good team. They’re ranked in the top 10, and they belong there.”
Against Pine Prairie, the defense collected the three turnovers and held the Panthers to just 157 total yards, including zero passing yards with two interceptions.
The shut-out effort included a goal line stand just before halftime.
Port Barre’s first scoring drive started by killing a serious threat from the Panthers. Pine Prairie took advantage of a muffed punt from Sylvester, setting up shop inside the Red Devil 30-yard line. Five plays later, the Panthers had third down on the Devil seven-yard line.
However, Alex Olivier intercepted a Dylan Doucet pass at the goal line, returning it 24 yards. Port Barre then went 76 yards in 10 plays, scoring on the first play of the second quarter. Sylvester scored on a 26-yard toss sweep.
The Panthers were offside on the point-after-try, so Port Barre went for the two-point conversion. Terrance Lemelle scooted across the goal line for the two points, and Port Barre led 8-0.
On the following Panther drive, Matt Leger made a diving interception to give the ball back to Port Barre.
On a steady diet of Sylvester left, Sylvester right, the Red Devils drove 61 yards in five minutes. Sylvester plunged into the end zone on a one-yard run. The PAT failed, and Port led 14-0.
Pine Prairie mounted a furious attempt at a comeback before halftime. The Panthers used two long runs from Doucet and Gaten Chaddrick to get inside the Red Devil two-yard line
However, Port Barre’s defense held tough, stopping Pine Prairie on fourth-and-goal for the turnover on downs; and the Red Devils took their lead into the locker room at the half.
Opening up the third quarter, the Panthers seemed to pick up where they left off. Pine Prairie went on a long, eight-minute drive to open up the second half.
With first down inside the Red Devil 25-yard line, Pine Prairie barely missed cutting the lead in half, as a Doucet pass was dropped in the end zone.
Three plays later the Port Barre defense tipped away another almost-touchdown to force another turnover on downs.
On the ensuing play, Port Barre was able to catch a lucky break. The Red Devil running back was stripped of the ball by Douglas Fontenot, who recovered the fumble he caused.
However, the Panthers had 12 players on the field. So, instead of taking over at the Red Devil 20-yard line, Pine Prairie gave up 15 yards and a first down.
Nine plays later, at the start of the fourth quarter, Red Devil quarterback Austin Lanclos scored on a one-yard keeper. Lemelle added the two-point conversion, and Port Barre led, 22-0.
The next, and final, Red Devil touchdown came quickly on the heels of the previous score.
Two plays later, Port Barre recovered another Pine Prairie fumble, giving it the ball at its 38-yard line.
The Red Devils kept the ball on the ground ten more times before using its only passing play of the game to score the final touchdown.
With the Panther defense continually getting sweeps, powers, and wham run plays, it was stretched out wide.
On third down, Mistric called a tight-end dive pass. Lanclos hit a wide open Spencer Broce for the score. The PAT failed, settling the score, 28-0.