Paris Coyotes Football Advances to District Championship

By Chris Willingham

In only their second season of 8-man football and second season under the leadership of Coach Cody Carney, the Paris Coyotes have put together an impressive campaign. With their victory Friday night on Warbritton field, Paris improved to 7-3 on the season and advanced to the sweet 16 of 8 man football. "We knew going into the season that we had a talented group of young men. Last season was about learning. Learning how to play 8 man football, learning new systems from a new Coach. I had to do a lot of learning as well. This season we have taken that next step and the results have been positive. Playing Schuyler County in back to back weeks was a little scary for us. They have a big, physical football team that can pose a lot of problems for their opponents. It took us a while to figure things out, but once we did we really played well. I'm proud of our kids and excited for the opportunity in front of us." Coach Cody Carney

Schuyler County did pose a challenge for the Coyotes on Friday night and the first half was a back and forth affair with lots of highlights. Schuyler County used their size and ability to run the football to put together an impressive opening drive running over six and a half minutes off the clock on a 12 play drive to take an early 8-0 lead. The Coyotes opening drive proved promising as Paris earned a 1st and goal from inside the one yard line. The Ram defense was up to task and stopped Paris on a 4th and goal play. Neither team scored for the remainder of the 1st quarter, but Coyote fans didn't have to wait long in the second for Paris to get going. Gatlin Fountain capped off a 4 play scoring drive with a 29 yard scoring drive to even the score at 8-8. The low scoring 1st quarter quickly became a thing of the past as both teams lit up the scoreboard in the 2nd. The teams combined to score 7 touchdowns in the final 7 minutes of the 2nd quarter. The Paris scoring started with a 15 yard touchdown pass from Luke Ensor to Cole Dowell at the 6:43 mark of the quarter. Gatlin Fountain scored again on a 28 yard run at the 5:36 mark. The Coyotes final two scores both came with under a minute to play before half. Luke Ensor found Gatlin Fountain for his 3rd touchdown of the first half on a 3 yard pass with :38 seconds remaining. The Paris defense stepped up and forced a turnover on the next play and Fountain and the Coyote offense capitalized. Fountain scrambled in for his fourth touchdown of the first half with :19 seconds remaining. Paris was good on all first half 2-point conversions and led 40-30 at the half. 

The Coyotes offensive success carried over into the 3rd quarter as they took the opening drive in for another score. This time Ensor connected with Reid Ragsdale on an 18 yard touchdown pass. With the conversion Paris was starting to pull away at 48-30. Schuyler wasn't quite ready to wave the white flag as their offense answered on their next drive to make the score 48-38. Fortunately for Coyote fans, their offense had found their rhythm and the Coyote defense stepped up to make some big stops and pick up a score of their own. Paris scored 3 more 3rd quarter touchdowns to blow the game wide open. The first was another Fountain touchdown run, this time from 3 yards out. The second score was a 21 yard run, Fountains 6th touchdown of the game. "Gatlin is a special player. He runs hard, he is decisive with his cuts, he is fast. He has everything a good running back needs and his offensive line really has stepped up this season. Those guys paved the way for our offensive successes Friday night and all season." Coach Carney 
The Coyote defense stepped up next as Chase Kendrick sacked the Ram quarterback in the end zone for a safety. Kendrick finished the game with 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, and 10 stops overall. The safety set the Coyotes up in good field position and Brad Skinner took advantage, scoring from 19 yards out. When the dust settled from the 3rd quarter Paris onslaught, Paris led 74-38. Paris scored two more fourth quarter touchdowns, one from Sawyer Clements on a 30 yard run and the second on a pass from Scott McGee to Zeke Turner from 19 yards. Paris closed out the semi-final victory 86-46 and punched their ticket to the District title game. "I think every team wants to start the season with the goal of playing for a district championship. That goal became real for us early on in the season and I'm proud of our guys for competing and working hard to earn this opportunity." Coach Carney

Gatlin Fountain had a career day rushing 18 times for 241 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also hauled in 1 receiving touchdown for 3 yards and added 9 tackles. Reid Ragsdale continued to build on his impressive season on both sides of the ball. Ragsdale hauled in 2 receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown to go along with 11 tackles and an interception. Brad Skinner ran the ball 5 times for 64 yards and a touchdown and added 14 tackles. Dayton Rush helped pace the defense with a forced fumble and 11 tackles. Luke Ensor completed 7-14 passes for 3 touchdowns and 69 yards. 

With the win the Coyotes improved to 7-3 on the season and advanced to 8-man football's version of the Sweet 16. Paris will travel to North Shelby Friday night for the District Championship game.