Conference Opener Preview

Andrew Wells Paris Alumni and Current Arkansas Tech Student

Paris Heads to Danville to Open Conference Play

Paris gets ready for their first conference game this week at Danville. The Eagles are coming off of a bye week and are eager to begin conference play with a strong start. The Eagles enter at 2-1 after suffering a hard-fought loss to Booneville on the road. 

In the loss the Eagles turned the ball over 3 times, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. They were held to just 147 total yards of offense while allowing 416 yards to the Bearcats. The final score of the game was 35-7, with Paris’ lone touchdown coming from a 12-yard pass from Josh Honea to Ty Farmer in the third quarter. In the loss, receiver Jayden Carter was still able to lead the team with 50 receiving yards, while linebacker Joel Johnson racked up another team high in tackles with 10 and two tackles for a loss. The ground game struggled, totaling only 39 rushing yards, 20 of which came from backup quarterback Athan Wells. As expected, Booneville leaned on its run-heavy scheme to pile up yardage, exposing an area the Eagles will need to improve moving forward. While it marked Paris’ first setback of the season, they remain 0-0 in 3A-4 conference play. 

In their last outing, the Eagles’ defense gave up a season-high 35 points after allowing just two points total in their previous games. Despite the setback, Paris can still make a strong push in conference play, with momentum on their side and two wins already to their name-including a Class 3A victory over Lavaca. 

This Friday, September 26th, Paris travels to Danville to face the Little Johns. Danville enters the matchup 1-2 with losses to 2A Hector and 3A Hackett. Their lone win came in their second game, a victory over JC Westside. With rest from a bye week and looking to rebound from a tough loss, the Eagles aim to open conference play with a strong 1-0 start.