Paris High players and cheerleaders celebrating their crosstown win against North Lamar.
The Paris Wildcats brought a canine to Friday’s Crosstown Showdown cat fight at R. L. Maddox Stadium vs. the North Lamar Panthers. With a dogged offensive approach that ground out 29 first downs and 367 yards rushing and a pack-like mentality on defense that limited their rivals to 138 total yards, the Cats used a dominant, 51-23 win to punch their ticket to the Class 4A-1 playoffs.
It was the first win by Paris (6-4) this season over a team with a winning record. To keep their season alive, the Cats now must defeat a team that hasn’t lost all year. Paris faces the 7th-ranked Van Vandals (10-0) Thursday, 7:30 p.m., at Rockwall’s Wilkerson-Sanders Stadium.
The District 7-4A-1 season ended Friday with Liberty-Eylau (4-1) winning the championship with a 48-27 victory at Princeton, which falls into a second-place tie at 3-2 with Paris and Pittsburg, a 29-20 winner over Quinlan Ford. Princeton takes the district’s No. 2 playoff seed, Pittsburg is No. 3 and Paris No. 4 by virtual of head-to-head tiebreakers.
NL finishes fifth and out of the playoffs at 2-3.
K.D. Scott with a catch and run Friday night.
After two straight district losses had ended Paris’ hopes for a fourth straight district title, the Cats found themselves on the brink of playoff elimination. Last week they beat a winless Quinlan Ford team to set up Friday’s winner-plays-on, loser-stays-home finale with their Lamar County neighbors.
A huge banner draped hear the visitors’ locker room foreshadowed the inevitable: “Tell your girlfriends you’ll be free next Friday.” The only question was which side it should be facing.
The back-to-back losses to district opponents Princeton and Pittsburg also forced the Wildcat coaching staff into some philosophical soul-searching, and their remedy has been a KISS strategy (keep it simple, stupid). The blocking schemes have been simplified, and they’ve reverted to more base defensive alignments.
And with the return to the lineup of injured running backs Dren Rollerson and Ja’Kerion Brown they’re now able to rely on a bruising rushing game to lead the way. Call it a 25-25-10 offensive strategy: 25 designed runs for junior quarterback Quez Allen, 25 plays for the junior Rollerson and sophomore Brown, and 10 calls for senior playmaker KD Scott.
The result Friday night:
- Allen carried 20 times for 181 yards and 2 TDs . . . check
- Rollerson carried 19 times for 128 yards and 4 TDs and he caught 2 passes for 21 yards. Brown carried 15 times for 52 yards and a TD . . . check
- Scott caught 3 passes for 16 yards (a sub-par night due in part to outstanding defensive coverage by the Panthers’ Samaki Walker plus a rare overthrow on a potential post route TD), but he also had 5 punt returns for 109 yards and 3 kickoff returns for 26 . . . check
Paris High quarterback Quez Allen breaks away from the defense Friday night.
Defensively, the Cats concentrated on stopping the Panthers’ 1-2 running punch of running back Keitron Reed and quarterback Versache Buchanan and forcing the Panthers to beat them via the pass. They couldn’t, although special teams were a different matter.
Speedy Julique Franklin burned them for a pair of first-half kickoff returns for scores. The Cats didn’t punt all night, but the one time they tried, it resulted in a safety when the snap on a tight punt formation sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone. That translated into 16 of the Panthers’ 23 points.
Those lowpoints along with a couple of lost fumbles were about the only hiccups of the evening for the Wildcats, who confidently lined up toe-to-toe with their friends and rivals and controlled both lines of scrimmage. So thorough and convincing was the win that fans on both sides of the capacity-plus crowd began departing in droves soon after Paris scored on its first series of the second half to extend the lead to 44-16.
The Paris defense never gave the Panthers a chance to get back into the game. Jordan Williams was a force on both sides of the ball with his blocking on offense and 13 total tackles on defense. Sophomore linebacker Dre McKinney had 7 stops and an interception that capped a second-half goalline stand. Linebacker Connor Hummel and safety Scott also contributed with 6 tackles each, and cornerback Diarva Brown had an interception that set up a Paris TD.
The game also saw a renewed spirit that had been subdued in recent seasons, although it never escalated to the point of on-the-field ugliness that many rivalry games exhibit. The Cats’ relentless running game played a big part in keeping things civil.
North Lamar Quarterback Versache Buchanan trying to escape a tackle Friday Night.
Paris held its first Crosstown Showdown Bonfire since 2008 Thursday night and had a raucous pep rally earlier Friday highlighted by a skit that featured assistant coach Larry McFarlin, who formerly coached at NL. He appeared in costume as a helmeted cowhand howling like a wolf at the football team and student body and getting them to respond in kind.
So if you wondered the reason for the strange dog-like sounds from the visitors’ section one week removed from Halloween, now you know. It was the bark that accompanied the bite of the Cats’ running attack.
Scoring Summary:
- Paris 7, NL 0. Dren Rollerson 1 run (Leonel Gutierrez kick), 5:52, 1q. Cats set the tone for the evening on their first possession by going 48 yards in 13 plays with just 2 passes on the drive. They also convert a 4th-and-1, the first of 4 such conversions they will manage in the game.
- NL 7, Paris 7. Julique Franklin 96 kickoff return (Kris Stephens kick), 5:38, 1q. Franklin finds a huge opening up the middle and outsprints the coverage to the left pylon.
- Paris 13, NL 7. Rollerson 4 run (kick failed), 4:38, 1q. It takes the Cats just 4 plays and 60 seconds to regain the lead for good on a 61-yard drive. Rollerson starts the drive with a 35-yard run. The extra point hold falls off the tee before Gutierrez’ kick, the second straight week that a conversion has been foiled by a slippery tee.
- Paris 20, NL 7. Ja’Kerrion Brown 3 run (Gutierrez kick), 3:25, 1q. An interception by Diara Brown of an ill-advised Panther pass sets up the offense at the NL 35. It takes just 3 plays to score. A Quez Allen-to-Phillip Sikes 20-yard pass is the big gainer.
- Paris 27, NL 7. Allen 23 run (Gutierrez kick), 11:11, 2q. After a 3&out and punt, Cats travel just 44 yards in 6 plays. They keep the drive alive on a 4th down conversion, then Allen scrambles into the end with the aid of another vicious downfield block by Jordan Williams.
- Paris 34, NL 7. Rollerson 11 run (Gutierrez kick), 8:59, 2q. A 39-yard punt return by KD Scott gives Paris a short field at the NL 16. Two Rollerson runs get them into the end zone after he lunges for the left pylon.
- NL 9, Paris 34. Safety, ball snapped out of end zone, 2:53, 2q. Fumbles on the next 2 Paris series finally cost the Cats. The defense holds the Panthers to a short 41-yard field goal attempt after the first fumble, but the second fumble pins the Cats at their own 1 when the punt snap sails out of punter Gutierrez’ reach for a safety.
- NL 16, Paris 34. Franklin 69 kickoff return (Stephens kick), 2:43, 2q. Lighting strikes again for the Panthers on the ensuing free kick from the 20 when Franklin skirts the right sidelines for his second return TD of the night.
- Paris 37, NL 16. Alfredo Medina 36 FG, 0:02.2, 2q. Medina remains perfect for the year on placement tries with his 4th field goal (he also is 5-for-5 on EPs). The Cats regain some lost momentum heading to the locker room by going 39 yards in 7 plays.
- Paris 44, NL 16. Rollerson 4 run (Gutierrez kick), 9:11, 2q. Any hopes for a miracle Panther second half rally are quickly quelled on a 66-yard, 8-play drive (all runs).
- Paris 51, NL 16. Allen 14 run (Gutierrez kick), 11:55, 4q. Allen scores on the first snap of the fourth quarter to end a gruelling 76-yard, 14-play march. The drive includes 6 straight carries by Rollerson and a pair of fourth-down conversions.
- NL 23, Paris 51. Keitron Reed 7 run (Stephens kick), 2:00, 4q. Panthers convert a final Paris fumble into points by going 47 yards in 8 plays, aided by a Paris personal foul.
How Wildcat Opponents Fared:
- Mount Pleasant (0-10) lost to Texas High, 29-7
- Melissa (4-6) beat Community, 59-48
- Tyler Chapel Hill (5-5) lost to Carthage, 28-21
- Palestine (1-9) beat Brownsboro, 41-26
- Argyle (10-0) beat Sanger, 44-7
- Liberty-Eylau (5-5) beat Princeton, 48-27
- Princeton (7-3) lost to Liberty-Eylau, 48-27
- Pittsburg (4-6) beat Quinlan Ford, 29-20
- Quinlan Ford (0-10) lost to Pittsburg, 29-20
- North Lamar (6-4) lost to Paris, 51-23
By: Tim Taylor, eParisExtra
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