Quez Allen taking a snap earlier this year against Melissa.
Longview – When looking at the schedule before the season started, it was quite certain that the Paris High Wildcats had their work cut out for them before district started. Having already played Mt. Pleasant, Melissa and Tyler-Chapel Hill, the gauntlet continued Friday night with the Palestine Wildcats on the schedule. Although the 34–13 reflects a blowout win, the Wildcats have some improvement to do before district play.
Something that has plagued the Wildcats this season happened again Friday as they got off to a sluggish start, including a delay-of-game penalty to start their opening drive. Penalites were another problem head coach Steven Hohenberger eluded to after the game.
“The big difference in the game was we had three 70-yard plays called back,” he said. “Two of them were touchdowns and the other got down to the two-yard line. That’s 200 and something yards called back, and the thing was, we didn’t score on any of them.”
After giving up the opening score to Palestine, Paris scored 34 straight points. It was the mistakes, though, that frustrated coach Hohenberger. Five sacks on first down was a “disapointment” according to the second-year head coach.
“[The sacks] are not necessarily the offensive line” he explained. “It’s a combination of the quarterback holding on to the ball and not hitting his receivers. It’s a combination of the receivers not being where they’re supposed to be. And we had some pass protection issues. Not that anyone wasn’t accounted for, but we got beat by some guys.”
Wildcat running back Ja’Kerion Brown with a huge gain against Melissa earlier this year.
Paris High finished the game with 364 yards total offense. Quez Allen finished with 203 yards in the air and onther 52 on the ground, while accounting for four of the Wildcats’ touchdowns. Drendarious Rollerson finished with 74 yards rushing and one touchdown. Ja’Kerion Brown had two catches for 87 yards, including a score.
It wasn’t pretty but it was a win and it puts Paris High with a record of 3–1 going into the final game before district play begins. The problem is their next opponent is on a 20-game winning streak and is the defending State Champions. The coaching staff knows if they make the same mistakes against the Argyle Eagles that they made against Palestine, they will lose. It’s as simple as that, or perhaps it’s not that simple. For now, the Wildcats can savor another road victory. Monday morning, though, it’s back to the grindstone to prepare for the Eagles.
By: Greg Higgins, eParisExtra
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