With the annihilation of the Edward Waters Tigers (0-3) Saturday, the Prairie View A&M University Panthers (1-1, 0-1) ended a shutout drought that spans back 19 years. This win gave the home fans a glimpse of what the Panthers are capable of when they are in full rhythm on both sides of the ball.The game was scoreless until running back, Kerry Wilson, broke through the Tigers defensive line with a 59-yard scurry to score the first touchdown. Prairie View held the lead 7-0 with less than five minutes in the first quarter.
The Panthers gained an offensive total of 475 yards, with 321 of those being on the ground.
“Our players were determined to be successful running the ball today,” said Panther head coach Henry Frazier III. “It all starts upfront with the offensive line. They played extremely well for us tonight as well as our group of running backs.”
The Panthers went into the half with a well deserved 19-0 lead after freshman Calvin Harris scored off a 10-yard dart and sophomore Arnell Fontenot added another rushing touchdown for the half.
Prairie View’s special teams came out in the second half and added another score when senior Cameron Thibodeux recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to up the score 25-0.
Fontenot led all rushers with 133 yards on the ground, with Wilson not too far behind with 80. Both had a touchdown each. Freshman running back Anthony Weeden accounted for two of the Panther’s six touchdowns. “We put up a good showing in our home opener and it’s always nice to be able to follow up a loss with a victory,” said Frazier. “Mark Spivey did a great job of filling in for Chris Gibson at quarterback, I was really happy with his play. He hadn’t started a game in three years and when he settled down he made some really great passes.”
This was Prairie View’s first shutout since a 20-0 win over Mississippi Valley State in 1987. The Panther defense held the Tigers to a mere 66 yards passing and a whopping -35 rushing.
“I felt like our defense gave us an exceptional performance,” said Frazier. “To be able to hold them to minus yardage rushing and scoreless for the game is a testament of their overall effort tonight. I don’t know what our defensive coaches told the players before this game but whatever it was they came out fired up and ready to play football.