By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor
PINE PRAIRIE – No one is implying that this season hasn’t been a struggle for the Pine Prairie Panthers.
Pine Prairie’s issues have been a mix of growing pains under a new coach and tough scheduling.
Three of Pine Prairie’s losses have come to teams destined to make noise in the playoffs this year in Oberlin, Church Point and Tioga. Its other losses – Livonia, Buckeye and Ville Platte – have all been competitive and challenged in games this year.
Unfortunately, the path worn by the Panthers gets no easier this Friday as they travel to Iota.
“It’s the same mindset we’ve had all year – to get better each day we go out there and each game,” Pine Prairie head coach Joe Heintz said. “Hopefully, before the end of the year the hope is that it might lead to a win or two.”
After an 0-2 start, the Bulldogs’ have won their past four games and enter the game playing some of its best football of the year after last week’s 38-6 blowout of Northwest.
“What don’t they do well,” Heintz asked. “They run it well and they’re big and physical on the line; they’ve got two backs that are capable of taking it to the end zone each time they touch it. Their quarterback throws it well and some guys that can go up and get it. There’s really no weaknesses.
“Defensively, it’s similar. They’re good at all three levels.”
It’s another challenge for a team that isn’t unfamiliar with them. It’s the trials they’ve faced that Heintz hopes leads to later success.
For his team though, Heintz believes that their success comes down to doing a better job in the passing game and defensively.
“We’ve really got to do a better job in the throw game than we have,” he said. “Defensively, we can’t just play vanilla defense. We’ve got to challenge teams and make some things happen.”
June 20, 2026
