Hoping for more

PINE PRAIRIE -- It was deja vu all over again for the Pine Prairie Panthers in 2016, with one exception.
After a hard fought campaign last season, the Panthers wound up with the same 3-7 record as the previous year. The only difference was that Pine Prairie was actually able to take home a district win after defeating Port Barre at home.
So, it seems that the Panthers are making bigger and bigger strides every year. According to head coach Yves Prince, Pine Prairie was to continue that upward surge and hopefully translate it into something the Panthers have not accomplished since establishing a football program; make the playoffs.
“This summer we had some tremendous success in the weight room,” stated Prince. “If we can continue to get stronger throughout the year by hitting the weights three days a week, I truly believe that we can get over the hump and finally get into the playoffs for the first time.”
Prince believes the schedule that he has this season will be challenging, but will give the Panthers some opportunities to pick up enough wins to make the playoff goal a possibility.
“I know our district is big and it will be tough from one week to the next,” said Prince. “However, there are some games in there that I truly believe that we can compete in. I feel that if we can come away with two wins in our first three non-district games, we can steal some wins in district and come up with enough power points to secure a playoff spot.”
That will be a tough challenge for the Panthers, as they will open up with some formidable opponents to start the season. Pine Prairie will open with a Class 4A ball club in Tioga. They will follow that game with a showdown against inter-parish rival Ville Platte. Completing the non-district portion of the schedule, the Panthers will travel to another Class 4A team, Beau Chene.
Pine Prairie then opens district play with perennial playoff contender Church Point. The Panthers travel to Port Barre for a date with the district team they defeated last season.
Cross-parish rival Mamou follows. That game will be on a Thursday night. The Panthers then host Eunice, travel to 2016 quarter-finalist Northwest and stay at home to battle Iota. The final district game will take place at Crowley.
The Panthers return a number of starters on both sides of the ball, as Pine Prairie sported a number of underclassmen in 2016.
Offensively, most of the players up front return, including seniors Corynn Anderson, Dylan Chappelle and Colby Leggett. In addition to those key players, the Panthers also get back quarterback JJ Sims, running back Joel Franks, tight end Cole Thomas and skill players Isaiah Payne, Peyton Ledoux and Damon Malveaux.
Pine Prairie was pretty much one dimensional last year, as the passing game was mostly nonexistent. Relying heavily on the wishbone formation, the Panthers were very vulnerable if they fell behind, as they were not able to generate a quick strike offense. This season, however, Prince is hoping to change that situation and get the ball in the air more this year.
“We are planning on breaking the bone this year and open up the offense,” commented Prince. “Our plan is to spread out the defense and throw the ball more, but we will still rely on the run game. JJ (Sims) has come around a lot since last year and has had a good spring and fall camp.”
“There are a lot of kids that came out this season for the first time that I think we will be able to rely on to help us out,” he continued. “I think we will have some decent speed on the field. Hopefully, we can utilize that speed to our advantage.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers will return several key players including Will Chappelle, Anderson, and Leggett up front. Franks and Reid Aney will move back to their familiar linebacker positions. Demarcquinn Sam will help to anchor down the front eight also.
In the defensive backfield, Sims returns along with Payne and Brian Ardoin.
“We are planning to stick to our same 4-2-5 scheme that we had last season,” said Prince. “But, one change we will be making is the way we play up front. We are going to be more physical with our defensive linemen and allow them to hold up the offensive line so that our linebackers can get to the ball.”
“Last year we stunted more, but this year we will play more of a straight up game,” he continued. “I picked up some techniques for our defensive linemen at the LSU coaching clinic. They play more of a 3-4 look, but we are going to use some of what they teach their linemen. Hopefully that will help free up guys to make tackles.’
Prince will have only eight seniors at his disposal, but his junior class consists of 16 players. Even with that many upper class men on hand, Prince has been most impressed by the number of freshmen that have graced the field of battle this season.
“We have the biggest freshman class to come out this year than we have ever had,” stated Prince. “I am excited about what I have seen in them so far. They have really shown that they are not afraid to get in there and mix it up. In fact, we may have a few of those guys wind up playing a significant amount of time for us this season.”
With that being said, the Panthers are on the doorstep of making school history once again. If Pine Prairie can find some more offense this season and eliminate the mistakes of the past two years, they may just find themselves in the playoffs.