Panthers show no mercy against Mississippi Devils

In front of a sold out crowd the Prairie View A&M Panthers ended homecoming on a high note, by showing that the Devils would not hold them back, and beating Mississippi Valley 51-14.
 It was a perfect day for football, sun shining, temperatures in the low 60s, and screaming fans packed in Blackshear Stadium.
 Homecoming 2013 was almost over but fans watched as the Panthers manhandled the Devils on the field.
One of the few highlights the Devils had was forcing a fumble from Panthers quarterback Jerry Lovelocke on the opening drive of the game.
The Devils were forced to give the ball right back to the Panthers and the scoring began. Lovelocke connected with wide receiver Deandre Cooper for a five-yard touchdown pass.
After a successful kick from kicker Chris Barrick, the Panthers quickly raced out to a lead they would not relinquish. At the beginning of the second quarter the Devils tied up the score up with a run from Patrick Durr. This is the closest the Devils would ever be to the Panthers.
The Panthers scored 37 unanswered points following a quarterback change. Junior Quarterback De'Auntre Smiley kicked off the scoring from eight yards out putting the Panthers up 14-7.
Smiley said coach called a play just for him to get the defense guessing; "Coach called a run play designed for me and I just followed my blocks to execute the one play, and it worked and resulted in a touchdown."
Literally 17 seconds later linebacker Jerome "40" Howard intercepted Devils quarterback Jeremy Collins and returned it 23-yards, pushing the lead to 21-7.
A few drives later defensive back Korey Alston made Collins fumble, and was recovered by Kenneth Maxwell at the Panthers 42-yard line.
Howard said the defense was not letting up this game. "This week we implemented tackling and that's how we lost our close games. We realized if we can tackle we could play with anyone."
Smiley wasted no time converting on the turnover by rushing 22 yards. He then found a wide-open Cooper for his second touchdown of the day, and made the score 28-7 at halftime.
The halftime featured several people getting recognized such as the new athletic director Ashley Robinson. Also, the royal court was presented to the crowd.
The famous Marching Storm and Black Foxes had a 13-minute show that included the band playing several selections such as "Get Lucky" and "What You Won't Do For Love." The alumni Foxes danced to "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" and the new Foxes danced to "Take Back The Night."
Third quarter kicked off with an interception being thrown by Smiley, but the Devils could not capitalize. Pinned deep down inside their own side of the field, a bobbled snap caused a safety putting the Panthers up 30-7.
On the following drive, Smiley found freshman Nick Pitre for a 20-yard touchdown, giving the Panthers a 30-point lead. Pitre recently burned his redshirt after the team found out senior Robert Primes would be gone for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL.
When asked about burning his redshirt, Pitre said it was an exciting moment. "Coming off burning my redshirt was a fun moment. The decision was hard but I was willing to do anything for my team in order to get us to the SWAC Championship," he said.
To end the third quarter, Smiley completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cooper, giving him his third touchdown of the day and stretching the lead to 44-7.
The Devils had a spark on offense in the fourth quarter, scoring a touchdown from one yard out by quarterback Patrick Ivy to make the score 44-14.
To round out the scoring for the day, running back Levon Castillo broke a tackle and rushed into the end zone, giving the Panthers the prolific score of 51-14.
Lovelocke and Smiley combined for a total of 319 passing yards and four touchdowns. Cooper led the way with nine receptions for 96 yards.
The Panthers will travel to Shreveport, La., for the annual Shreveport Classic. They will take on Jackson State University in a pivotal cross-divisional matchup Saturday at 4 p.m.
Head coach Heishma Northern said going into the Shreveport Classic, the mindset of the team is strictly to win. "If we play good Prairie View football we can beat anybody...we want to win one for Prairie View A&M University."