Paladins Fall to Defending State Champions
The defending football state champions, Mt. Paran, came to the vibrant swamp that was Pinecrest on Friday night. The game was played in true football weather, as a steady, chilling drizzle was visible all night in the flood lights. It was easy to tell which fans had been there since the beginning, based on their drenched hair, and Pinecrest’s green and gold uniforms had turned to brown and brown. Despite a valiant Paladin effort, Paran ended up winning 35-19. The loss marks the first home loss since November 8, 2013. It also marks the transition to mostly sub-region matchups for the remainder of the season.
This game wasn’t your typical, rhythmic, drive-to-drive competition. Rather, it was a game full of unpredictable fumbles, botched kicks, and dropped passes by both teams. Pinecrest fumbled once, and Ryan McCarthy went just 1-7 passing. Mt. Paran had two fumbles, and their kicker seemed to be having problems throughout the game. It was a messy game overall, but that doesn’t mean the Paladins didn’t leave it all on the field.
McCarthy finished with 182 rushing yards and all of Pinecrest’s three touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, head coach Todd Winter said “We started some young guys on the line and they played well.” The fact is, the Paladins put up three touchdowns against a Mt. Paran team that had D-1 talent on both sides of the ball. “We missed a couple of scoring opportunities. (Winter)” Pinecrest only lost by two scores, so had they converted those “missed opportunities,” they could have very well won the game. That alone is something to be proud of. At the end of the day, the team got better, and that is what is important.
Drive-by-Drive Summary
To start the game, Paran received a Pinecrest kickoff. They got one first down, but after that, the strong Paladins defense held their ground and forced a punt. PA started their first drive at their own 32, and Ryan McCarthy took over. He ran a total of 63 yards on this drive alone, and capped it off with a rushing touchdown. Birozes kicked a dime through the uprights and this put the Paladins ahead 7-0 with 8:02 left in the first quarter.
PA kicked off again and Mt. Paran started their second drive of the game at their own 40 yard line. This time they drove down the field and scored on a sweep play to tie the game up 7-7 with 6:23 left in the first. Pinecrest received the kickoff at their own 34, but the offense couldn’t get a first down. After a nice punt from McCarthy, Paran got it at their own 35, and the game got interesting. On fourth down at PA’s 41, with 2:27 left in the first quarter, Matt Walters burst through and knocked down the Paran ball carrier at the line to force a turnover on downs. Unfortunately, though, Pinecrest only made it down to the Paran 40 yard line before fumbling. Paran recovered and held the ball to round out the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Paran started to take the lead, one that they would hold for the rest of the game. After recovering the PA fumble, Paran drove down the field and scored to make it 14-7 with 10:29 left in the half. When the Paladins got the ball back, they ran to the fifty yard line before being forced to punt. Paran then got the ball once more and scored another touchdown, making it 21-7 with 4:24 before halftime. Flashback: PA was down by two touchdowns with five minutes left in the game against Trion, and they still won. This time, though, the “football gods” weren’t on our side. The Paladins got the ball back and ran out the clock. Note: Ryan McCarthy was on the sidelines during this drive, after limping off of the field earlier. This meant that Jake Mangan was at the quarterback position for the first time in a while, which was cool.
As the second half started, the unrelenting light rain kept falling, and some clouds blurred the moon as it shone down. (Note to Mother Nature: If this had happened on Halloween, it would have been a lot cooler.) Anyway, the beginning of the third quarter was marked by three consecutive turnovers: PA turned it over on downs, Mt. Paran fumbled, and then PA turned it over on downs again (about 5 yards away from scoring). After that sequence of events, there was 6:31 left in the third and Paran had the ball.
They then took that ball and drove it down the field on a 94-yard run, making it 28-7 with 6:13 left in the quarter. PA got the ball back and started at their own 31 yard line. They drove down the field and then Michael Birozes made an AWESOME 38-yard catch, setting up a four yard McCarthy touchdown. Birozes then missed the extra point, which nobody will remember because of his catch. Nice strategy, Michael. Now the score was 28-13 with 2:30 left in the third quarter.
Paran took the ball at their own 44 yard line, and unfortunately, it wasn’t long before they were in the endzone again, making it 35-13 with 1:29 left in the third. PA received the ball and held it to end the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, PA’s drive was kickstarted by a speedy 66-yard run by McCarthy, which lead to his third rushing touchdown of the night. The Paladins went for two but couldn’t convert, so the score was 35-19 with 11:11 left in the game. On the next drive, Paran fumbled and PA recovered, but it was too late for anything to change the outcome of the game - There was only 6:30 left. The Paladins did their best to try and score one more time, but it was to no avail. The final score was 35-19, Mt. Paran on top.
For the most part, teams learn more from losing than from winning. If a team wins all of the time, there can be problems with a team that don’t get exposed. Those problems can manifest later, even in the playoffs, so it is good to correct them now. Sure, it is always better to win, but losing can carry benefits, also.
Pinecrest is back in action this Friday night when the visit sub-region foe Whitfield Academy. The Paladins will look to get back to winning ways and hope all are there to cheer them on. Kickoff is at 7:30.
