If you like close football games, Golden Lion stadium was definitely the place for you to be last Saturday, as the game went down to the wire only for the Panthers to come up short (24-23), in front of 25,300 spectators. A prime example of a close game was their most recent one against the Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions, who are in a neck-to-neck race with the Southern Jaguars in the Western Division of the SWAC to get to the conference championship.
Arkansas Pine Bluff (6-2, 5-1 SWAC), like Prairie View A&M have opened a lot of eyes this football season highlighted by their win over Grambling State (44-22) back on October 16th. The Golden Lions started the season on a roll winning five of their first six games, with their most recent loss coming against the Jackson State Tigers (35-42) on October 30th. The Golden Lions were able to get on the scoreboard first as a result of their lengthy 14-play 74-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by James Johnson to put Pine Bluff up 7-0 with 7:43 to go in the first quarter. The Panthers responded to Pine Bluff’s first touchdown with a 75 yard drive ending with running back Arnell Fontenot reaching the end zone on a 10-yard run to tie the score 7-7 with 2:34 to go in the first quarter. Fontenot came through big in this game finishing with 25 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown.
The second quarter of the game was just as close as the first quarter with both teams scoring a touchdown each to keep the score tied at 14-14 going into halftime. Prairie View took their first lead of the game with a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Gibson to wide receiver Alex Porterie. Then Pine Bluff retaliated with a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown by Myron Jefferson with only 26 seconds to go till halftime to set the score at 14-14. The Panthers began the 3rd quarter with a 76-yard drive resulting in running back Darrell Walker scoring a touchdown on an 11-yard run. The score gave the Panthers back the lead 20-14, after a failed extra point attempt with 10:43 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Prairie View A&M’s defense came alive on Pine Bluff’s next offensive possession, as they were able to limit the Golden Lion’s drive to only 4 plays totaling 3 yards. The Golden Lions had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by kicker John Heflin to set the score at 20-17 going into the fourth quarter. In the 4th quarter the Panthers were able to add some more points to their lead with place kicker Charles McCall kicking a 38-yard field goal to give Prairie View A&M a bigger cushion with the score at 23-17.
Unfortunately Arkansas Pine Bluff was able to have the last possession, driving the ball the length of the field resulting in quarterback John Pierce throwing a 16-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Billy Moody for the win with the score of 24-23. This Saturday the Panthers will face the (3-6) Jackson State Tigers who they haven’t played since the 2002 season. Game time is at 3:00 p.m. at Blackshear Field.