Two in a row

PINE PRAIRIE -- For the second year in a row, the Mamou Demons have found a way to outshine their parish and district rival Pine Prairie, as they took down the Panthers in a 25-13 win Friday night.
With the win, Mamou improved to 1-2 on the season and 1-1 in district play. The Demons will host the Northwest Raiders on Friday in another district match-up.
Pine Prairie fell to 0-5 on the year and 0-2 in league competition. The Panthers will travel to Iota this Friday for a date with the Bulldogs.
After the game, Mamou head coach Dwight Collins was cautiously optimistic about his team’s first win of the season.
“The good for us is to get the win,” stated Collins. “It will definitely help with morale at practice on Monday. We are still making mistakes. The second half we had a couple of mental breakdowns. As we play, I can see we are getting better. We are gradually getting our players back from injury, and that will help down the road.”
Pine Prairie began the game with the football following the opening kickoff. The Panthers moved the ball from their 22-yard line down to the Mamou 46. However, a delay of game penalty on fourth and four forced Pine Prairie to punt the ball away.
The Demons took over on their 41-yard line after a very short punt and proceeded to move the football in chunks. Six plays into the drive, the Demons struck pay dirt when quarterback Jalon Bradley hit wide out Devin Ardoin for a 35- yard touchdown pass.
The extra point attempt failed, giving Mamou a 6-0 lead with 3:50 to go in the first quarter.
The Demons got the ball back in a short amount of time after holding the Panthers on their next series. The Pine Prairie punt was downed at the Mamou 29-yard line, where the Demon offense went back to work.
A 47-yard run by Bradley on the first play of the drive set the Mamou offense up at the Panther 24. Three plays later, Bradley raced into the end zone from 10 yards out to add to the Demon lead.
The two-point run failed, nevertheless, Mamou held a 12-0 lead with 9:27 to go in the second quarter.
A three and out by the Pine Prairie offense forced the Panthers to punt once again. Following the kick, the Demons took over at their 41-yard line.
Sticking to their run game, Mamou methodically moved the ball to the Pine Prairie five-yard line in eight plays. On fourth and goal, Bradley once again slid over the goal line, this time from five yards out.
The extra point was good, and, with 2:23 left in the first half, the Demons held a 19-0 lead.
The Panthers’ final drive of the first half went no where once again, as the two teams headed into the locker room with Mamou up three touchdowns.
The two teams came out flat offensively in the second half, exchanging the football twice after a pair of uneventful drives.
The Demons took over the ball at the Pine Prairie 46-yard line after the second Panther possession of the third quarter resulted in a punt.
A roughing the passer penalty by Pine Prairie on third and 20 gave Mamou the ball at the Panther 43-yard line. Three plays later, Bradley out ran all Pine Prairie defenders for a 34 yard touchdown.
The two-point pass failed, making it a 25-0 game in favor of the Demons with no time left on the clock in the third quarter.
Pine Prairie found some life at the start of the fourth quarter. On their first possession of the period, the Panthers marched 85 yards in seven plays, mostly through the air, to pick up their first score of the game.
The touchdown came when quarterback Branson Fontenot found Chase Freeman down the seam for a 26-yard scoring pass. The two point run was shut down by the Demons, however, the Panthers had cut Mamou’s lead down to 25-6 with 9:44 left in the game.
Feeling the momentum switching, the Demons needed either a score or a time consuming drive on their next possession; Mamou got the latter.
Beginning on their 34-yard line, the Demons controlled the football long enough to reach the Pine Prairie 15-yard line and eat up over six minutes of clock. Mamou was forced to turn the ball over on downs, but they left little time for the Panthers to mount a comeback.
But, Pine Prairie did not fold their tents. Instead the Panthers went back to the air, completing pass after pass. With 10 seconds left on the clock, and Pine Prairie facing a third and goal from the Demon five-yard line, Fontenot found Josiah Ortis in the corner of the end zone for another Panther score.
Jacob Miller tacked on the extra point, and, with three seconds to go, the scoreboard read 25-13 in favor of Mamou.
Despite the loss, Pine Prairie head coach Richard Clark was very pleased with the way his team came out and played in the second half.
“The talk at halftime was just to go out in the second half and have fun,” said Clark. “We were hitting our head against a brick wall for a while, but we went out after halftime and had fun. That is what we plan to do for the rest of the season. I thought our defense stepped it up in the second half, which allowed our offense to get going. Once we get going, we are a good football team.”
Bradley led the way for Mamou with 163 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns. Ardoin had three receptions for 46 yards and a score.
Fontenot finished the night with 194 yards on 14 of 25 passing and two touchdowns for Pine Prairie.