The Paris football program is a proud program with a proud past of alumni who have played for the Eagles over many years. The pride in the program transcends every player on the current roster. Most recently, the Eagles football program has won 23 games over the two previous seasons, and this year’s rebuild of the program has had three painful weeks.
For the third week in a row, the young Eagles have played deep and experienced teams. In zero week, the turnover bug took the Eagles out of their opener at Waldron. In week one, the Eagles ran into a deep and experienced Mansfield team that will likely make the playoffs in their conference this year. Tonight, Paris traveled to West Fork, and, again, ran into a experienced Tigers roster.
But from this writer’s perspective, tonight’s game was a big step forward for the Eagles. Make no mistake, this is a program that does not believe in moral victories. The Eagles take no consolation in losing at West Fork 13-0. But, in the evaluation of the effort, the progress, and the coaching staff who is trying everything they can do to facilitate the Eagles development and competitiveness, tonight was definitely a step forward.
The game started with West Fork, behind their big and physical offensive line, marching down the field methodically and eventually into the end zone. The Tigers scored again in the second quarter, but missed a point after touchdown attempt, and the teams went into the locker room with West Fork leading, 13-0.
But the Eagles are showing their fans that there is no quit in this team. They are struggling, but, they play hard on every down for the entire game. Paris was able to shut out West Fork in the second half, and offensively, the Eagles had a couple of scoring opportunities on possessions inside the West Fork thirty yard line but were unable to sustain drives and turn them into points. The game ended with West Fork getting a 13-0 home win.
Paris continues to improve, and that is a credit to the character of the players, as well as the hard work of the coaching staff. Paris head coach Jeff Weaver has plenty this week that is positive to share with his players and to use in continuing to teach and improve as a team. There will be opportunities down the schedule for Paris to win some conference games, and, possibly qualify for the playoffs. That would be a huge accomplishment for this team, and Paris fans need to continue to show up big and support this young team. And speaking of showing up big, the Paris fan base can be very proud of the good crowd that made the trip on Friday night to Northwest Arkansas to support their Eagles! Great job Paris fans!
Paris will have a bye week next week that will give the team a chance to rest, heal from the nicks they may have from the first three games, and to work on fixing issues that continue to be a challenge for the team. Tonight I saw a Paris team that gave up a size advantage to West Fork, but played hard and matched the Tigers’ physicality for the most part. You cannot doubt the heart of the Paris Eagles.
Paris will return home on September 23 to open conference play with Glen Rose. RNN Sports will be in Charleston next week for our feature coverage of the Charleston Tigers and the Nashville Scrappers.
Photos from tonight’s game will be posted on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports on Sunday night. Stay with RNN Sports for the best in Paris Eagles football coverage!
