It was not the ending the Mamou Demons were hoping for in their 34-28 loss to the Basile Bearcats this past Friday night.
On the last play of the game, an untimed down nevertheless, Basile found the end zone from one and half yards out to deal a heartbreaking loss to Mamou and give the Demons their first loss of the young season.
Now, Mamou (1-1) must find a way to rebound when they host the Bunkie Panthers (1-1) in a non-district contest tomorrow night. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Against Basile, the Demons were able to fight their way back from a 19-0 deficit after one quarter of play to take a 28-19 lead going into the locker room.
But, as well as Mamou played in the second quarter of that game, the Demons were unable to punch the ball in the end zone in the second half, mostly because of eight costly penalties, including one that led to the untimed down.
Add to that the 12 penalties collected by Mamou in the first half, one of which negated a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown, and you have the makings of a self-inflicted wound that needs to be healed with a win over the Panthers.
Despite the number of penalties and the slow start in the first half, the Demons had some moments that proved that they are a team on the rise in 2019.
For starters, Mamou put up 257 yards of total offense against the Bearcats, with 148 of those yards coming through the air. Secondly, the Demon defense was able to hold the vaunted Basile rushing attack to only 112 yards on the night.
The big star once again for Mamou this past Friday night, quarterback Daylon Ardoin. The senior signal caller had only 37 yards rushing, but put up 148 yards threw the air. Jadon Bradley added 63 yards on the ground for the Demons.
Bunkie comes into the game tomorrow night with a 14-9 win over a solid St. Edmund Blue Jay football team. The Panthers fell to the Marksville Tigers 35-14 in week one of the season. Bunkie is a team that mixes the run and the pass in a spread type offense.
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TRACEY JAGNEAUX Sports Editor