North Lamar’s season comes to a sudden end as Paris High dominates in final Game

The North Lamar Panthers struggled early in ball games during the district season and Friday night was no exception. Even though a playoff berth was on the line, the Panthers could not get going against crosstown rival Paris High. Both teams came into the game with identical 2-2 district records, yet it was Paris High that earned the final playoff spot after a 51-23 victory at R.L. Maddox stadium.

“We just lost to a better team tonight,” North Lamar coach Tim Billings said after the game. “If we play them ten times, we probably lose all ten. We might luck into a win but we probably lose them all.”

From the opening kickoff, Paris High showed its dominance on both sides of the ball. At halftime, the Panthers had more points on the scoreboard than they did yards gained. North Lamar had 16 points despite only gaining ten yards on offense in the first half.

The two touchdowns came on the legs of Julique Franklin, who ran back kickoffs of 98 and 67 yards. The other two points in the half came on an errant snap over the punters head. The ball sailed out of the back of the endzone resulting in the safety.

The other side, however, had no trouble moving the ball at all. Paris scored on six of their eight possessions in the first half. The first five of those resulted in touchdowns. Most of the yard gained on the ground for Paris was split between Dren Rollerson and quarterback Quez Allen. Rollerson finished with 128 yards and four touchdowns while Allen gained 181 and had two scores.

North Lamar did a good job eliminating the big play from the Wildcat’s offense. Instead, Paris was able to move the ball efficiently on their way to 447 yards of total offense. Averaging 5.3 yards per play, the Wildcats moved the chains 29 times to only 11 for the Panthers.

Versache Buchanan was the lead rusher for North Lamar with 80 yards. It seemed to be the focal point of the Wildcats defense to stop the running attack knowing they can gain yards in big bunches at times.

“The defense was fantastic,” Paris High coach Steven Hohenberger said after the game. “For three quarters they were flying around. What a credit to Coach Anderson and the defensive coaching staff and those players.”

North Lamar’s only offensive score came at the two minute mark of the fourth quarter when Keitron Reed found the endzone on a seven yard carry. The Panthers will go into the offseason now with a little disappointment but with expectations raised.

Last year, North Lamar finished the season 2-8 and winless in district. This year, their record was 6-4 with a 2-3 district mark.

“We now have a measuring stick to go by,” Coach Billings said about his team. “It was a good first year.”

I don’t think anyone in North Lamar will deny that statement by the first year athletic director.

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter

Paris High – Dren Rollerson 2 yard run (Leonel Gutierrez Kick); 0-7; 5:51

North Lamar – Julique Franklin 98 yard kick return (Kris Stephens Kick); 7-7; 5:37

Paris High – Rollerson 4 yard run (kick missed); 7-13; 4:37

Paris High – Rollerson 5 yard run (Gutierrez kick); 7-20; 3:24

Second Quarter

Paris High – Quez Allen 23 yard run (Gutierrez Kick); 7-27; 11:10

Paris High – Rollerson 11 yard run (Gutierrez Kick); 7-34; 8:58

North Lamar – Snap over Paris High Punter’s Head for Safety; 9-34; 2:54

North Lamar – Franklin 67 yard kick return (Stephens kick); 16-34; 2:42

Paris High – Alfredo Medina 36 yard field goal; 16-37; 0:07

Third Quarter

Paris High – Ja’Kerion Brown 5 yard run (Gutierrez Kick); 16-44; 9:10

Fourth Quarter

Paris High – Allen 14 yard run (Gutierrez Kick); 16-51; 11:54

North Lamar – Keitron Reed 7 yard run (Stephens Kick); 23-51; 2:00

By: Greg Higgins, eParisExtra