Panthers collide with Raiders

Both Pine Prairie and Northwest know they have uphill climbs in District 5-3A. They are each looking for their first league win and both teams are sitting at 2-5 ovrall. Both are coming off of losses to neighborly opponents. Northwest lost 38-7 to Church Point, while the Panthers fell to Ville Platte High 41-0.
The Panthers netted just 46 total yards last Friday against a very good and stingy VPHS defense. Things won’t get much easier this week in Prairie Rhonde, but the Panthers may surprise some people. They have been getting better on the offensive line and with some execution, could stun the Raiders early and back them up on their heels.
Northwest has been giving up 19 points a game, including mostly running yards last week. PPHS could find success on the outside and off tackle, using the speed of Douglas Fontenot and Dylan Doucet. Cade Vidrine and Doucet combined for 75 yards of passing last week, showing some positive growth.
The Raiders are vulnerable to falling behind early and not being able to come from behind. Look for that to be a detail PPHS Head Coach Robert Davenport tries to exploit.
Both schools have tremendous speed, but have struggled to use it at times. NHS has put up just 50 points this year, while PPHS has only scored 47 points.
This game is purely for momentum, but with three weeks left to go in regular season, you never know what could happen.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Northwest High School near Opelousas.