Region 4A-D1 Semis: Paris vs Melissa and Argyle vs La Vega

[regaleagle]

Argyle had their own slugfest tonight of a different sort.......against a physical and very good defensive La Vega team.  It's all over now......thank goodness.  Now Argyle can take a day of rest and get ready for Paris next week.

Argyle  28

La Vega  14

Final   

Congrats to a very good La Vega Pirates team........they made it very difficult on the Argyle Eagles tonight.  You can't win every time........Argyle knows the feeling.

[bluetopper]

Great win for a low income town with a big percentage minority population. The only 4A Div1 school in the entire 903 area code.

I’m a white guy saying this raised in northeast Fort Worth but I’ve been in Paris 25 years now and this town has been very good to me and given my daughter a great education   .She is now in Veterinary School  at A&M. Go Wildcats!

[regaleagle]

We may have met before Bluetopper.......maybe in Celina last year in that new stadium when y'all played them on Argyle's bye week.  I sat with a Paris couple that night on the visitior side.......maybe it was you.

[SHPantherDad]

Kilgore is 4ADiv 1 in 903 area code

[FBJ]

Must have been a slip, everyone in our district is 4A Div.1 in the 903 area code.

[Parisian]

Extremely proud of this Paris team.  Because of the two COVID forfeits to start district, they've essentially been in playoff elimination mode since week 7.  Can't say enough about the job they've done piecing together an undersized but proficient O-line that has the offense clicking on all cylinders now.  The Cats have had better defenses in recent years, but this season's bunch is gritty and has managed to get key stops and takeaways when needed.

This is the first Paris team to advance to the regional final since the 1988 state championship year.  They knocked off an unbeaten No. 1 team in the state (Denison) that year to win regionals and advance.  They had lost to Denison earlier during the regular season.

Now they face another unbeaten, No. 1-ranked opponent in Argyle, a team they also lost to during the regular season.  (There will be time to revisit that game next week, but it was closer than the 21-point final margin.)  Could this be deja vu?  Probably not, but I wouldn't bet against it.

[bluetopper]

If Paris has a nemesis it is Argyle. They can never seem to get around them. Could this be the time?

[Texski]

If you had told me Melissa would score 49 points commit 1 penalty and Paris would only complete 3 passes the whole game  I’d tell you they would have won easily but didn’t end that way. The key plays were the early Melissa int that led to Paris 2nd TD and really made Melissa play catch up the rest of the night and the muffed punt in the 4th quarter. also the final TD for Paris on the 4th and 2 with 4 min left. That option pitch was a great play call. 
 

the real head scratcher to me was the 2 timeouts Melissa called on their final drive. Both timeouts were called immediately after the previous play ended and there was 2+ minutes left. If they save those timeouts they have a chance to get the ball back after the failed (nearly recovered) onside kick. This is 2nd year in a row Melissas coaches have had bad clock management late in 3rd round playoff loss.

Congrats to Paris. Not sure they are the better team but they played better tonight and deserved to win. They had a great game plan and have a stable of talented backs. 

 

 

[bluetopper]

I listened on the radio but it seems Melissa couldn’t stop Paris’s sweeps around the ends for long runs. Speed...there’s no substitute for it. 

[regaleagle]

What this win shouts is that Paris has a very athletic team that can get it done.  They don't need to have the advantage on the line if they are quick enough and athletic.  Their secondary is very athletic on both the pass and run.  Good set of linebackers too.  Overall, I'm very impressed with how the Wildcat offense has been putting up more and more points each game.  Paris eclipsed 50 pts in this game.......against a very good, high-scoring opponent that still scored 49(just about their season avg).  Everybody thought this game would be somewhat lower scoring because of the Paris defense.......but that didn't happen.  Whatever happened out there on the field, the Wildcat offense found ways to make up the difference and score.  Sounds like a total team effort to me.  

[regaleagle]

Argyle played a very conservative ball-control game against La Vega.  Ran the ball with excellence against a very stingy LV defense known for holding opponents to very few offensive points......esp. later in the season.  They had Rauls back and he did make a big difference in this game.......picked up lots of key first downs on 3rd and 4th downs.  Also was magic with the zone read handoffs and keepers.  But Argyle prevailed and held LV to only 14 pts.......that says tons about the Argyle defense this season.  Admittedly, the coaching staff held the reins back for the Argyle offense to throw the ball in this game for good reasons in the game plan.  For all they knew, it was gonna be a wet game......remember?  Too late to go back and change the game plan.......and Coach Rodgers most probably wanted to win this game against LV by running the ball against them......which Argyle did successfully.  I'm very impressed with the way Argyle won this game.  It didn't look flashy by Argyle standards.......but the players did make the plays when they needed to and stayed under control and patient.  In the end it all payed off with a win to advance.  Argyle outplayed La Vega at their own game.

[regaleagle]

BTW.......that banana pudding ain't even half gone yet......I made a BIG batch and it's just about that time again, LOL. It's raining steady today and ended up being a fair-weather Friday Night Lights for most playoff games.  Still had the upsets around the state, though........some surprising and some where the game was always gonna be a close one.  Maybe next week Paris and Argyle will get an indoor facility somewhere in the metroplex.......but most probably that Rockwall stadium.