PRAIRIE RHONDE – The playoff hopes of the Mamou Demons took a big hit Thursday night as they fell to the Northwest Raiders 43-8 in what turned out to be a one-sided game.
With the loss, Mamou dropped to 4-4 on the season and 2-1 in District 5-3A play. The Demons will travel to Church Point Friday night to take on the Bears in a district game.
Thursday night’s contest, a game that was originally scheduled for Friday but moved due to threat of inclement weather, did not start well for Mamou. On the opening possession, the Demons were forced to punt the ball. On the kick, Northwest return man Dapriest Hogans raced through the Mamou punt team for a 61-yard touchdown. Christian Lopez knocked the extra point through and with only 1:49 gone in the first quarter, the Raiders led 7-0.
Mamou regained the ball on the ensuing kickoff and found themselves with a golden opportunity. On the first play of the drive, Payton Vidrine raced around the end for a 14-yard gain. A personal foul against Northwest added 15 more yards, putting the ball at the Raider 37-yard line.
However, the Demons could not muster any offense going forward and was force to punt the ball back to the Raiders. The ball trickled into the end zone, giving Northwest the ball at their 20-yard line.
The Mamou defense held for the first two plays of the Raiders’ next possession. Facing a third and five at their 25-yard line, Northwest quarterback Montaze Sam broke loose on a sramble and raced 59 yards to the Demon 16-yard line.
Two plays later, Sam powered his way into the end zone for the Raider score. Lopez tacked on the extra point and with 6:38 to go in the first quarter, Northwest held a 14-0 lead.
The Mamou offense was once again halted on the ensuing drive, forcing another Demon punt. The Raiders took over at their 20-yard line after the kick and, following two plays of 20 or more yards and a Mamou personal foul, found themselves at the Demon three-yard line.
On first and goal, Sam called his number once again and bolted in from three yards out for the touchdown. Lopez’s extra point gave Northwest a 21-0 lead with 1:41 still left to go in the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Raiders add to their lead. Starting on their one-yard line, Northwest drove 99 yards in seven plays, including three plays over 20 yards, to stretch the lead to 28-0 with 7:49 to go in the second quarter.
Mamou had a couple of chances in the second quarter to put points on the board. The Demons got down to the Raider 33- yard line on one drive and reached the Northwest seven-yard line on a follow up drive. Unfortunately, on both of those possessions Mamou was unable to reach pay dirt because of either huge losses or penalties.
The Raiders picked up one last score before the half came to an end. Starting at their 22-yard line, Northwest moved the ball down to the Demon five, aided by a 51 yard pass play. Sam once again worked his way into the end zone on first and goal. The extra point was no good, but the Raiders led 34-0 as the two teams headed into the locker room.
Northwest added another touchdown and a safety in the second half to complete their scoring for the night.
The only bright spot for the Demons offensively was a 54 yard touchdown run by Kyrian Green with 3:08 left in the game. Daylon Ardoin found Vidrine in the end zone for the two-point pass conversion to make it a 43-8 game.
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TRACEY JAGNEAUX Sports Editor