Almost Paradise: Panthers take No. 1 Malakoff to the brink in state semifinal loss

The Paradise football team had No. 1 Malakoff right where they wanted them after opening a 12-point lead with 2:24 left in the third quarter.

But a 1:15 stretch in the fourth quarter spelled disaster for the Panthers as Malakoff reeled off 20 unanswered points to defeat Paradise 27-19 in a Class 3A Division 1 state semifinal on Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Ford Center.

Malakoff (14-0) will make its third trip to the state championship when the Tigers face No. 4 Columbus (14-1) at 7 p.m. on Thursday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Columbus defeated No. 2 Edna 49-6 on Thursday.

Malakoff will be looking to repeat after defeating Franklin 14-7 in the 3A D1 title game last season. The Tigers lost to Grandview 35-21 in the 2018 3A D1 championship.

“Hats off to that team right there,” said Malakoff coach Jamie Driskell of Paradise. “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a team that plays as hard and as fast as their kids do. Their coach over there has done an amazing job with those kids.

“We fought, but it didn’t look good there for a little while. Our kids made some big plays there at the end and we got it going. It wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t matter.”

Paradise (12-3), which reached the state semifinals for the first time in program history, had just taken 9:27 off the third quarter clock by taking the opening kickoff of the second half and driving 83 yards in 14 plays. A six-yard run by Luke Brown gave the Panthers a 19-7 lead with 2:24 left in the third quarter.

But Malakoff responded. Jason Tennyson scored on an 11-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 19-14.

After the kickoff, Paradise was facing a third and seven from its own 22 when quarterback Ayden Winters’ pass across the middle, under duress, was picked off by Malakoff’s Jack Hustead and returned 32 yards for a touchdown for the Tigers.

Not only did Malakoff take a 20-19 lead with 10:38 left in the game, but Winters injured his right leg on the play after getting rolled up underneath a Tiger defender. It was enough to keep the senior on the sidelines the rest of the game where he was sorely missed on both offense and at defensive back on defense.

“It sucked,” said Winters, who led Paradise with 79 yards rushing on 20 attempts through three quarters. “You’re gonna have trials and you just have to get past them. I was trying to get back out there.

“They’re a good team, they’re a championship team, and they know how to win and they’re going to find a way. We knew it was going to be tough, but it sucks.”

The Tigers upped the lead to 27-19 with 2:20 left on a three-yard run by Tennyson, but Paradise wasn’t quite done. Ayden Olalde, who replaced Winters at quarterback, found Logan Lampley for 35 yards down to the Malakoff 37, but the Panthers weren’t able to move the ball from there and lost the ball on downs with 59 seconds left in the game.

Malakoff took the opening kickoff and marched 57 yards in six plays behind quarterback Mike Jones who started the drive with a 23-yard run. Jones tossed a pitch pass to Parker Poteete who raced round right end for a 13-yard score and a 7-0 lead for the Tigers with 9:43 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers answered with a 55-yard drive of its own. On the 11th play, Winters kept on a zone read and raced up the middle from five yards out, diving the final two over a Malakoff defender. There was an illegal touching penalty on the point after try after the hold for the kick was bobbled and Malakoff kept its lead at 7-6 at the 3:44 mark of the opening quarter.

Paradise was nails on defense the rest of the first half allowing the Tigers 55 more yards while forcing two punts and holding Malakoff on downs once. Brown gave Paradise a 13-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter with a 59-yard scamper around right end on a jet sweep.

“Our coaching staff is just great, they’re so intelligent and they believe in us,” said Paradise linebacker Blake Read, who led a defense that had shut down Malakoff for the better part of three quarter. “They just pick apart teams and it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever seen.

“We have no size all, but we’ve got speed and we’ve got heart. We’re always smaller and we can usually pull it off, but tonight they played football just a little bit better in the fourth quarter.”

Paradise coach Joe Koch said that it was a season that really exceeded expectations with such a young team coming back after graduation depleted his squad that reached the quarterfinals a year ago.

“I’m really proud of them,” said Koch. “I told the guys to keep their heads up because there was a lot of firsts this year. First time getting to the semifinals and the first time winning a district championship in Class 3A.

“They played as hard as they could play tonight and that’s all you can ask for.”