Once Paris was trapped in the quicksand, it couldn’t get out.

The Coyotes were tied at 8 with North Shelby, who received votes in the most recent state 8-man football poll, but a rough second quarter led to a 52-14 loss. In the second quarter, Paris had three turnovers and also allowed two onside-kick recoveries.

Head coach Cody Carney said the game started pretty well since Paris scored on its first drive, via a 14-yard pass from Luke Ensor to Gatlin Fountain, and recovered a fumble. But Paris lost a fumble on the next play and really started to sink in the second quarter.

“It was a quicksand effect,” Carney said. “It seemed like the harder we fought, the more we just kept sinking. It gets pretty frustrating after a little bit, but we kept fighting.”

Fountain scored both touchdowns for Paris as he ran the ball in from two yards out. He ran for 71 yards on nine carries. Luke Ensor threw for 96 yards on 8-for-16 passing. 

On defense, Fountain led the defense with 18 tackles (two tackles for loss). Brady Shivers finished with 10 tackles and had a fumble recovery, and Reid Ragsdale (three tackles for loss) and Aron McCain (one tackle for loss) each had eight tackles.

Carney said the turnovers stick out, but the offense was moving the ball well until those miscues struck. North Shelby’s big linemen were also a big obstacle, helping the Raiders run for 369 yards and 241 in the first half.

“Their biggest strength is they have really big offensive and defensive lines,” Carney said. “It’s just dealing with those guys in the trenches. Our guys did a pretty decent job for being a little bit undersized.”

Paris hosts Knox County (0-4) at 7 p.m. Friday for Homecoming.