Bunkie Panthers hand Pine Prairie hard knock loss

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 succumbed 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 coach 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 44­yard 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 attempt, led the contest 6-­0 with 8:35 remaining in the first quarter.
Pine Prairie again went three­-and­out and was forced to punt.
Bunkie, in a shot gun formation, completed a deep pass to Jacob Boatner down to the Pine Prairie 43­-yard line.
The subsequent plays from scrimmage saw some resistance from the home team bringing up second and 11.
The resistance proved futile as the Bunkie possession resulted in Murray’s first touchdown of the nightf rom five yards out making the score 13-­0.
The next possession for Bunkie saw a greater Pine Prairie resistance as the tandem of Corryn Anderson and Jeremiah O’Steen provided a big stop on third down. Bunkie went for it on fourth down, but was stopped by the Pine Prairie defense.
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 Pine Prairie could not sustain the drive, leading 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 Murray was “running a lot more physical tonight that he did in the jamboree against Marksville.”
The first half ended with Bunkie leading 20-­0.
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 picked up a first down at Bunkie’s 38­-yard line.
The freshman, Jordan Ardoin, on a quarterback keeper, broke loose for a big gain setting up first and goal at the 10 yard line.
Ardoin scored on the next play and Bunkie led 48-12 .
Brandt Deville converted on the two point conversion as time expired to make the final score 48-14 in favor of Bunkie
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 ast hey visit the Beau Chene Gators.
As to the rest of the season, O’Steen commented, “We just have a lot of work to do. We’re going to keep working hard. We’ve got a long season, so I’m sure Pine Prairie will continue those long strides to improvement.”
On the night, Pine Prairie carried the ball 34 times for 150 yards. Leading the way for the Panthers was Dylan Doucet who had 90 yards on eight carries and one touchdown.
However, the Pine Prairie passing game was anemic. The Panthers completed a total of one pass on six attempts for three yards.
As indicated by the score, Bunkie had a tremendous night on offense, collecting 428 yards on 44 plays.
Bunkie rushed for 385 yards on 36 runs.