If you are a current Prairie View A&M student, and you aren’t at least a little excited about the 2004 Panther football team, there is definitely something wrong. Prairie View head football coach Henry Frazier III is accomplishing so much in his first year on the hill that it’s hard to keep track of all the progress. When the Panthers defeated Texas Southern for the first time in 16 years on Sept. 4, people started saying that victory alone already made Prairie View’s season a successful one.
Then when the Panthers defeated the Paul Quinn Tigers the very next week, more eyes opened and people jumped on the Prairie View A&M bandwagon. After the Panthers started (2-0), and then lost four straight games, those same people began to say, “here we go again,” referring to the fact that they were already losing confidence in the Panthers.
What most of the public hasn’t realized is that going into Saturday’s homecoming match against the Lincoln Blue Tigers, the Panthers had arguably played the toughest conference schedule of any SWAC team having already played Southern, Grambling State, Alcorn State and Alabama State. Either Grambling State or Southern have won the last seven SWAC championships, with Alabama State reaching the SWAC championship twice in the last 3 years (2001, 2003).
With that competition early in the year any 0team, no matter how talented might struggle. Nevertheless, although the Panthers had lost four games they put up great fights in every contest, averaging 19.8 points per game.
From now until the end of the season, the Panthers’ schedule looks easier, have already beaten Lincoln 20-14 this last weekend, and still having to play the Jackson State Tigers (2-5), along with the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (2-6). The Panthers have a great chance to make even more history by the end of the season.
Under Panther head coach Henry Frazier III,the team has already beaten Texas Southern, won homecoming, and won three games, and the season is just a little half way over. Sixteen years is how long it took for past PV head coaches to defeat TSU, and three years is how long it’s been since Prairie View’s last homecoming victory, much less win three games in a single season. Coach Frazier has accomplished in his first year what many PV head coaches before him had been trying to accomplish for 16 years.
After losing four straight games, the Panthers were hungry to get things back on the winning track, and there was no better time to start back the winning ways than on homecoming. In front of a sellout Blackshear Stadium crowd of over 8,000 spectators, the Panthers defense rather than the offense were the ones that got Prairie View on the scoreboard first with a 30-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by cornerback Jeremy Kindle to put the Panthers up early 7-0 with 9:54 to go in the second quarter.
The Lincoln Blue Tigers quickly retaliated going on a three play 54-yard drive to set up their first score of the game with RB C. Richardson reaching the end zone on a one-yard run to tie the score at seven a piece. Looking to close out the first half strong, the Panthers put together a time draining 10-play 50-yard drive that resulted in a two-yard touchdown run by RB Eric Woods, to give the Panthers only a 13-7 lead after the extra point failed going into half time.
In the second half Prairie View came out a little rusty, and it proved costly, as Lincoln was able to capitalize after a long 10-play 63-yard drive with quarterback Erik Garcia finding wide receiver T. Davis in the end zone to give the Blue Tigers a slim 14-13 lead with 10:01 to go in the third quarter.
There were no points scored until with 12:51 to go in the fourth quarter when Prairie View QB Chris Gibson found WR Anthony Wright on the eventual game-winning TD with a 36-yard pass to set the score at 20-14.
However, the Lincoln Blue Tigers gave the PV fans and alumni a scare, as they were able to get the ball back with a little over a minute to play in the game.
Lincoln QB Erik Garcia who had been scrambling and making plays the whole afternoon had everyone on their feet in the stands at Blackshear Stadium, anticipating that he might be able to pull off the impossible. Nevertheless, Prairie View’s defense finished strong only allowing Garcia to complete one pass, to close out the game with a victory 20-14.
Prairie View finished with 59 offensive plays for a total of 241 yards (198 passing, 43 rushing). Leaders for the Panthers were QB Chris Gibson (12 of 22 for 198 yards, 1 TD), WR Kameco Andrews (4 catches for 90 yards), WR Chris Peterson (4 catches for 33 yards, 25 PR yards), and CB Jeremy Kindle (2 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 TD). This Saturday the Panthers look to continue their winning ways as they head to Itta Bena, Mississippi to face the (2-6) Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at Rice-Totten stadium. Game time is 2 p.m.
Speaking to The Panther after the game, Coach Frazier said, “We were in the game the whole time. You know our motto: We are going to play until the end. A lot of times things broke down for us, but the kids never hung their heads. They did not hang their heads when we were down by two and three touchdowns to Grambling, and other schools. I knew we were not going to hang our heads against this team that was winless, at our homecoming. We kept fighting and waiting for something good to happen, and it did.”
Frazier was elated to be the coach who won homecoming for the first time since 2001. He said, “It feels pretty good. I was 5-0 in homecomings at Bowie State. I explained to the kids that homecoming is a game that you want to win. Everybody is coming back so you want to put your best foot forward. We won the ball game, and I feel really good about it. We still have four football games to play to see if we can somehow win three of our four and have a winning season. That is still our goal.