Answering questions

Mamou, Pine Prairie tangle in district contest
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Two pressing questions may be answered when the up and coming Mamou Demons host the youthful Pine Prairie Panthers tomorrow night in their District 5-3A match-up.
Number one, can Mamou get off the fast start they have been wanting to do since the start of the season?
Number two, can the Pine Prairie Panthers mature enough to pull off their biggest upset this year?
Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Mamou comes into the game with an overall record of 3-3 and a district record of 1-0 after a signature 24-20 win over the Ville Platte Bulldogs this past Friday night. In that game, the Demons trailed 20-8 late in the first half before rallying for the four point win in the waning moments of the contest.
This was the fourth game of the year that Mamou trailed heading into the locker room and had to mount a comeback in the game. The Demons were able to pick up wins in three of those games.
“The win over Ville Platte puts us back in the playoff picture and lets our players know that we can still finish games,” stated Mamou head coach Dwight Collins. “We are playing strong in the second half. Hopefully that is a sign of a good football team. But, we are still starting off too slowly in the first half of the game. We have been working all year long on trying to break that trend.”
Mamou has relied heavily on its running game, which has produced right at 1,200 yards so far this season. The majority of those yards have come from quarterback Daylon Ardoin (598 yards) and running back Jalon Bradley (452 yards).
The Demons have also been a team that has made the big plays when needed. Just this past Friday, Mamou had a 51-yard touchdown run and a 20-yard touchdown pass in its win over Ville Platte.
“Our big play success has been a combination of us executing the system that we run and the athleticism that we have on the field,” said Collins. “We just try to play to the strengths of our guys when we call the plays that we do.”
In contrast Pine Prairie has had a long season so far. The Panthers come into the game winless in six games and have only scored a total of 21 points.
Two major reasons why Pine Prairie has had a rough go of it this year; a very young ball club and a series of injuries that has decimated their upperclassmen.
“We are so very young this year,” stated Pine Prairie head coach Yves Prince. “But, these guys are still working hard and trying to mature as quickly as they can. Day to day it has been up and down for us. When you are this young, you just don’t know how to be physical. We are still fighting though.”
Last week the Panthers fell to the Northwest Raiders 38-0.
Despite Pine Prairie’s overall record, Collins is not taking anything for granted tomorrow night when his team suits up against the Panthers for their homecoming game.
“I’ve learned that you cannot take any body lightly,” commented Collins. “Pine Prairie may be young, but they are still playing hard. They are slowly getting better each week. I know their quarterback has been out. But, they seem to improve every game. Our focus this week is on ourselves and making sure that we do not make the mistakes that can put us in trouble. We cannot lose sight of our goal of making the playoffs.”
His counterpart, Prince, is also weary of what his opponent is capable of at any given moment of a game.
“Mamou is so athletic, but the one thing that stands out to me is that they are big and physical up front,” said Prince. “You can see that their quarterback is mature and runs the offense well. Their running back is not afraid to run it between the tackles. It is going to be a tough game for us, no dout about it.”