Paris remembered the tough losses to Knox County a season ago.

The Coyotes lost by one possession 52-44 during the regular season last season and then two possessions 50-36 in districts but defeated their conference foe Knox County 60-20 during Friday’s Homecoming game. It was the first ever 8-man football win for Paris (4-2) over Knox County (0-5) and is the third game the Coyotes have scored at least 60 points.

Head coach Cody Carney, despite being in the area his second year, said he knows how much the game this past week meant to the kids and to the school.

“Knox and Paris has always been a pretty big rivalry,” Carney said. “Knox went 8-man before Paris so lost them, but last year, it got rekindled. Our kids were definitely looking forward to this one.”

Carney said Paris was balanced offensively this week, finishing with 245 yards rushing and 210 yards passing. Gatlin Fountain led the effort on the ground with 166 yards, and Luke Ensor threw 210 yards in the air with four touchdowns and three interceptions.

Following last week’s tough offensive performance against another Central River League North Division opponent North Shelby in a 52-14 loss, Carney said Paris wanted to focus on improving its offense. He said much of that credit goes to North Shelby, who received votes in the state poll, but it was a new week.

“We had a good mix of run and pass tonight,” Carney said. “Knox has a few younger guys, and we were trying to take advantage of some of that youth that was on the field. We were trying to mix it up on those kids and keep them on their toes.”

Aron McCain caught two touchdown passes and ran for one. Ensor having three interceptions didn’t detract from his night, Carney said, as he took the blame for one of them.

Fountain and Reid Ragsdale finished with 15 and 11 tackles, respectively, to lead the defense. Logan Mitchell had an interception.

Paris looks to redeem another loss from last season to Southwest (Livingston County) with Hale, Tina-Avalon (0-6), who defeated the Coyotes 38-18 back in Week 1. The Coyotes play the rematch on the road at 7 p.m. Friday.

“They’ve always got tough kids,” Carney said. “They’ve got a pretty decent ground attack so we’ll have to be on top of things with them. Just like any 8-man game, even if you get ahead three scores, it can flip in an instant.”