Pine Prairie continues district play with showdown at home against Port Barre

It was what was expected this past Friday night for the Pine Prairie Panthers. Playing the No. 3 team in the state in terms of power points, the Panthers did not get many chances to put points up on the board, and their defense stayed on the field a ton in a 46-0 loss to the Church Point Bears.
However, the 1-3 Panthers have put that game behind them and have been focusing on picking up their first district win of the season, as they will host the Port Barre Red Devils tomorrow night.
This will be the first home game of the season for the Panthers as well. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
“It will be nice to play at home for a change,” stated Pine Prairie head coach Yves Prince. “It seems like we have been on the road forever. I think being able to play in front of our fans tomorrow night will give the players a huge confidence boost. We can always use that.”
Last week, the Bears did what no one has been able to do so far this year; contain senior running back JJ Sims. Against the tough Church Point defense, Sims only had 10 total yards on the ground after coming in averaging over 100 yards a game.
“Church Point is an unbelievable football team,” said Prince. “They came at us hard. I don’t know if we will face a defense like that the rest of the season. We are going to have to get JJ back up and going this week if we want to come away with the win. I think if we can move the ball with some success and put up some early points, we have a good chance.”
Port Barre is a much improved team from last season. The Red Devils come into the contest with an overall record of 2-2 and a 1-0 record in district play.
Port Barre has wins over Beau Chene and Mamou, but the most impressive game to this point for the Red Devils was a close 18-13 loss to perennial powerhouse Opelousas Catholic in week two.
“Port Barre is not a bad team at all,” said Prince. “They are a lot better than they were last year. Our focus this week will be to try and contain their quarterback. They run the wishbone at times, but they want him to be the primary runner. They will also spread you out. But, they do that for one purpose, to allow him to scramble and break loose. We have to contain him.”
“A win this week is crucial for us if we hope to make the playoffs,” Prince continued. “If we can sneak past Port Barre this week and get another win next week against Mamou, we would need just one more win to totally secure a spot in the post-season.”