It was the same case for Paris this week.
The Coyotes couldn’t take advantage of enough opportunities in last week’s 34-26 loss to state-ranked North Shelby, and they fell short …
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It was the same case for Paris this week.
The Coyotes couldn’t take advantage of enough opportunities in last week’s 34-26 loss to state-ranked North Shelby, and they fell short 32-20 at Knox County (6-0), who received votes in the most recent state poll. Paris fell behind 16-0 in its second straight conference and district game before eventually coming as close as 24-20 in the fourth quarter.
Head coach Cody Carney said there were moments he wished went differently like when the Coyotes failed to convert on fourth down by inches inside Knox County’s 20-yard line, which led to an Eagle touchdown. He said there was also an interception returned for a would-be game-tying touchdown that was called back due to a penalty.
“We outscored them 12-8 in the second half but did not play very well in the first half,” Carney said. “It was like last week in that a play or two here or there goes our way, the score might be a little different.”
Carney said senior Brad Skinner was unavailable due to injury, which was a blow to the offense and defense. He said Paris started slow offensively and he takes some blame for its early struggles.
“We had some passes that were off our fingertips a little bit,” Carney said. “I’ll always take blame as there was some playcalling that wasn’t the best. It took some minutes to get our footing.”
After dealing with North Shelby’s rushing attack that went in last week averaging 306.4 yards per game, Paris had to face Knox County’s rushing attack with a 306.6 yards per game, putting the Eagles third in the state. Cooper Clair went into last week as the state’s second-leading rusher with the second-most rushing touchdowns behind Gannon Bowen, who the Coyotes faced the previous week.
Carney said Knox County finished with 243 rushing yards but took away the passing game at just -4 yards through the air. When the Coyotes had to defend the run, he said they did a good job.
“Our guys did pretty well,” Carney said. “They had three long runs that were 20 yards or longer. They’ve got a good offense, and they’ve got a good quarterback that runs the ball really well and is really fast with a couple good running backs with him.”
Bryce Wade led with 13 tackles, two tackles for loss and one interception. Logan Mitchell finished with 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and one interception.
Paris plays at Lincoln (3-1) at 7 p.m. today.
