Parisian

Region 2 semifinals at Texas A&M-Commerce Friday: 6 pm -- Paris vs. Dallas Lincoln 8 pm -- #4 Brownsboro vs. #13 Sanger This is the first Paris girls team to advance to the 4th round since the 1989 team that lost in the state semifinals. It's been a surprising run for the Ladycats, who have 0 seniors on the squad. Don't know for sure, but I think they attracted a bigger following last night (at Sulphur Springs) than the boys drew (at Pittsburg). Never imagined I'd see that happening.

Unless Frisco ISD decides to opt-up for Panther Creek to keep all their schools in the same classification. Amazing that Frisco now has 12 schools. Also amazing that Frisco is able to keep moving their attendance boundaries to equalize enrollment.

Looks like Nevada Community just squeezed into 4A-1 ranks at 889 (880 - 1299)

The 4A-1 alignment seems pretty reasonable to me. I look forward to seeing Paris & Sulphur Springs back in the same district (it's been 20 years since they were together). I know SSHS has fallen on hard times in football, so the drop in classification has to help.

Paris vs. Dallas Lincoln Thursday, 7:30 pm Wildcat Stadium I believe I heard that Melissa and Argyle are also hosting their bi-district games vs. Dallas schools. Haven't heard anything on Kaufman-Carter yet.

They're the odd-team out in the 3-way tiebreaker based on point differential. They needed Kaufman to beat Melissa to advance as the 4th seed.

Bi-district pairings should be: Melissa vs. North Dallas Argyle vs. Wilmer-Hutchins Paris vs. Lincoln Kaufman vs. Carter

Final: Melissa 17, Kaufman 2

Kaufman has lived in the red zone all night, but only a safety to show for it. It’s Melissa 14-2 with 4 minutes left in that game.

This district matches with 8-4A-1 in the first round. Barring huge second-half comebacks the seeding looks like: 1. Carter 2. Lincoln 3. Wilmer-Hutchins 4. North Dallas

I hope that's right. Otherwise, I'll be tuning in the audio broadcast while watching Kaufman-Melissa until that game gets out of hand. I just don't think Kaufman has the speed to keep pace with Melissa.

There have been times this season when Paris looks capable of holding their own against anybody in the state. Their problem has been consistency over a full four quarters. If they can pack consistency with them when they take that long bus ride to Argyle Friday, then, yes, this could be a meaningful fourth-quarter finish. But history says otherwise. Here are the margins of victory in Argyle's 12-0 record vs. Paris: 20, 38, 33, 46, 24, 11, 37, 20, 12, 21, 21, 28 Although I retired from making the trek to Argyle 3 years ago, I've seen every game in this series. I respect the Eagles' program and wish them well as they move up to 5A, but I will not miss having them on the district and playoff schedule. BTW, I'm guessing there's no live video stream for Argyle-Paris.

Terrell live-streams their home games on YouTube. You can find both their games vs. Melissa and Paris archived online. Texas Football has Argyle favored by 23 over Paris and Melissa by 36 over Kaufman, and I can't argue against either line. It will take lots of favorable breaks and perfect execution for either underdog to spring an upset this week. Argyle is always such a tough matchup for Paris due to size advantage along the line of scrimmage. With Argyle expected to move up to 5A next year, this will likely be the final district matchup in this series, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the two continue to meet on the schedule. Both schools have had a difficult time finding non-district opponents in the past due to geography. Still, lots of folks, myself included, would not miss the long Friday night road trips.

Don't know if district tiebreaker rules are capped at a pre-set margin of victory...otherwise, Kaufman stands at a +7, Paris is a +3, and Anna is -10 in case of a 3-way tie between those 3 teams.

Huge win for Paris to keep its playoff hopes alive. Still lots of scenarios for the postseason from this district. One very good team will be left at home. Two Paris fumbles gave Kaufman an avenue to get back in this game in the second half, but some holding calls killed their momentum.

This game is being live streamed on YouTube via Kaufman Roar TV. Mistakes in the passing game and big plays by Paris are killing Kaufman. If they get those cleaned up in the second half, they can still make up lost ground in a hurry. Kaufman gets first possession after halftime.

It's not a "must-win", but Paris (2-2) desperately needs to beat Kaufman this week. Anna (1-3) holds the tiebreaker over the Cats and has a much easier finishing schedule (Ranchview, Terrell).

Melissa ISD YouTube video stream is up and running. Hope it stays that way.

Paris doesn’t have live video streaming this year so unless Melissa takes its video equipment on the road (I believe they only video home games), there will be no video tonight. I don’t know how, or if, Chandler’s death factors into tonight’s game. Cats have to keep their emotions in check, and that’s a tough thing to ask of teenagers. To me, this is a matchup between Paris’ speed and Melissa’s height advantage by the Cardinals’ skill positions. Turnovers, field position, and big plays are the key. And yes, this is the best Paris O-line I’ve seen in years — perfect fit for that offense.

They look to be physically stronger along the line without losing much quickness and timing which makes the wing-t offense click. They don’t have the standout established backs of past seasons (at least not yet), but they have a half-dozen capable runners who bring a variety of skill sets to the attack (speed/quickness/power). Throw in a 3-year starter at QB and you’ve got the foundation for a productive and improved offense. They don’t have to throw for 200+ yards to be successful but they will need to hit a few throws to keep good defenses (like Celina) off-stride. We’ll know more after Friday.

There's no full replay of the Paris-Arkansas game posted online as far as I'm aware. Paris broadcast home games last year, but not this year, and Texarkana GameDay did not make the roadtrip. Paris does have a couple of highlight videos posted on their MaxPreps page. Arkansas HC Barry Norton did not make the Paris trip due to illness, which was probably a contributing factor in the lopsided score. Paris has back-to-back challenges on the road at Celina and at PG which could be defining moments on this young season. Since switching to the wing-T offense mid-season 2018, the Wildcats have gone 23-10 with a couple of long postseason runs despite competing in a strong district with tough pre-district schedules. They've been successful with an undersized O-line which has been a disaster when asked to pass protect. While I don't see a big change in offensive strategy, they do have some moderate size on the line this season, which, coupled with Hohenberger's scrambling ability, may lead to some passing success as the schedule progresses and they make adjustments. I didn't see the Arkansas game in person but I did watch the previous week's scrimmage vs. Denison and was encouraged by the defense. Despite key graduation losses, they may be even quicker to the ball than last year's team. I'm anxious to see how they hold up against Celina and PG.

Paris 27, Arkansas High 0 halftime

Don't see anyone left getting within 2 scores of Argyle, even if Bryce isn't able to go.

Bingo! I'll bet the under on elapsed game time. BTW, I see that this game is now on the NFHS network live stream schedule. It's a monthly subscription service that's easy to cancel and well worth the investment if you're into playoff football, especially this season of COVID-19. Don't have to mask from my easy chair or sneak in a flask to fight off the chill. A caveat, however: Sometimes you risk poor broadcast quality or transmission problems (such as with the Paris-Heritage playoff game).

If Argyle or Carthage would loan us their offensive lines, I'm sure the Paris coaches would be glad to switch back to a spread attack (which is what they ran until mid-2018). Right now, they're making do with a line that barely averages 200 pounds soaking wet. The offense works because everyone, including the O-line, are Cat quick and aggressive off the snap. Put them in pass-blocking mode, and it's a disaster. Rogers is an excellent passer for Argyle, but he has all day to find a receiver. Hohenberger is scrambling for his life on every play, but he still creates enough in the passing game to keep defenses honest.