Fort Worth Paschal defeats Irving in blowout fashion to open high school football season
The Irving Tigers started the Texas high school football season looking looking for revenge due to an opening game loss to Paschal last season.
To their dismay, the Paschal Panthers ran away with the season opener 38-6 on Thursday at Herman Clark Stadium.
In the opening drive, the Panthers were forced to punt after gaining 28 yards. They didn’t let the poor start stop them.
On the ensuing Tiger possession, the offense failed to get the ball beyond their own 20-yard line. The Tigers’ punt was muffed and the Panthers were gifted the ball at the 14-yard line.
The resulting drive would last a mere 10 seconds, and after two swift runs, Jashaun Thomas would find his way into the end zone with 6:33 in the first quarter for the Panthers’ first touchdown of the night.
Panther pride was strong throughout the first half with the defense showing that they were not to be messed with. They shut down the Tigers and forced them to go for the chip-in field goal.
Paschal’s Jack Van Ackeren timed the snap perfectly, resulting in an 86-yard blocked field goal return to put the Panthers up 14-0 with 10:25 remaining in the second quarter.
The second half wasn’t much different. Irving’s first drive was cut short, once again, by an interception. Paschal’s secondary had the skies locked down.
Looking to end the Panthers’ momentum, the Tigers stopped them on the goal line on three consecutive runs. Then, on fourth-and-1, Thomas shoved his way into the end zone with the help of his teammates on a second effort to extend the Panthers’ lead.
Although they were down five possessions, Irving found their way into the end zone with a 4-yard run with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter. This kept the Tigers from being shut out, and the game ended 38-6.
Coming off their opening win, the Panthers (1-0) will go on the road to face Irving Nimitz on Sept. 1. Paschal defeated Irving Nimitz in last year’s matchup 37-7.
