MERRYVILLE – After winning their first game of the season a few weeks back, the Merryville Panthers have played well.

But the wins have not come with the improved play. The Panthers (1-6, 1-3) aim to change that at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Keener-Cagle Stadium when the host the red-hot Basile Bearcats (3-4, 3-1) in a District 5-1A contest.

Since knocking off Elton at homecoming, the Panthers have put up plenty of offensive numbers against both East Beauregard and Gueydan, averaging 30 points a game.

However, the Panthers have found it difficult defensively, surrendering 89 points over those two games. And it won't get easier with Basile in town as the Bearcats have won three of their last four, including a 48-28 win over East Beauregard last week.

The Bearcats are led offensively by running backs Horace Edwards and Ethan Bazinet, quarterback Luc Johnson and receiver Jared Thomas, who is also a stellar defender, having returned an interception for a touchdown against East Beauregard.

Edwards and Bazinet each went over 100 yards rushing last week, combining for five touchdowns.

Although the Basile offense is solid, the Bearcat defense can be exploited as they gave up over 400 yards of offense last week to EBHS, the majority of which was in the running game.

And Merryville has an exceptional running attack as well as both Cam'Ron Williams and Dakota Thompson each eclipsed the century mark last week, each scoring a touchdown.

But an added dimension for Merryville is the passing connection between quarterback Remington Coody and wide receiver Kaleb Lewis, who have hooked up for three touchdowns in the last two games.

This article originally appeared on Leesville Daily Leader: Merryville hosts Basile in 5-1A showdown