Pine Prairie falls to Northwest 41-0

PINE PRAIRIE -- Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers! It is the one thing a team cannot afford if they hope to defeat an opponent that for all intents and purposes is better than you.
But, that is just what happened to Pine Prairie here Friday night, as the Panthers turned the ball over three times, including once inside the opponent’s five- yard line, in a 41-0 district opening loss to the Northwest Raiders.
“We just can’t turn the ball over that many times and expect to win,” stated Pine Prairie head coach Yves Prince. “I thought we drove the ball effectively in the first half. I mean we got down inside their five-yard line and just dropped the football. If we score there, it may be a different game.”
The first score of the game came not from the Northwest offense, but rather from their special teams. After holding Pine Prairie to only three yards on the opening possession of the game, the Panthers were forced to punt.
Raider punt returner Abraham Gordwin picked up the ball off of the ground and raced 53-yards for the touchdown. The extra point was blocked, but Northwest led 6-0 with 9:46 left in the first quarter.
The Panthers gave the ball back on the ensuing drive and the Raiders wasted no time getting back on the scoreboard. This time Northwest took only five plays to put the ball in the end zone. The drive was capped off with a 12-yard pass from Terrel Guillory to August Pitre. The extra point was good and the Raiders now held a 13-0 lead with 5:52 to go in the opening quarter.
Pine Prairie got the ball back and moved right down the field in their best drive of the night. With Clint Graser doing most of the heavy lifting, the Panthers marched 60 yards in 16 plays to the Raider five-yard line. Unfortunately for Pine Prairie, Graser fumbled on the very next play and Northwest recovered at their three-yard line.
Another fumble on the Panther’s next possession led to a third Northwest score. After recovering the ball at their 35-yard line, the Raiders used only six plays to add to their total. This time it was an 18-yard touchown sprint by Matthew Rideau and a made extra point that put Northwest up 20-0 with 2:02 left in the half.
The second half was much of the same, as the Raiders added three more scores in the third quarter.
Northwest took their first possession of the third quarter and took only two minutes off of the clock for the next touchdown. It was Rideau again, this time hitting pay dirt on an eight-yard rumble, giving the Raiders a 27-0 lead.
The last two Northwest touchdowns came within 43 seconds of each other. The first was a 32-yard pass and the second a 15-yard run from Guillory.