PARIS – For the second straight week, Charleston was facing a second-half deficit on the road. This time, the Tigers found themselves down 12-10 at Paris going into the fourth quarter. But, for the second game in a row, Charleston (2-3, 1-0) made the plays they needed to down the stretch to come away with a 27-19 win over the Paris Eagles (2-4, 0-2).
If you’re a fan of defensive struggles and low-scoring football, the first half Friday night was your kind of game.
After the opening kickoff sailed out of bounds, Paris took over for its first drive of the game at their own 35-yard line. The defense would hold early, highlighted by a Matthew Scott tackle for loss, and force Paris into a three-and-out and a punt.
On Charleston’s first offensive possession, they would have a great opportunity to score right off the bat. The Tigers took over at the Paris 46 following the punt and immediately took the ground. Charleston quarterback Lukas Burleson and running back Finn Schmalz would alternate carries, including a 24-yard Schmalz run down the Paris 13-yard line. Two consecutive Burleson keepers took the Tigers down to the Eagles’ 3-yard line.
On third down, disaster would strike. Burleson carried again, breaking a Paris tackle, but this time would fumble into the end zone just before breaking the goal line, which the Eagles would recover for a touchback.
Paris would have more success on its second drive, with quarterback Josh Honea completing two consecutive 12-yard passes for first downs. However, the Charleston defense would use a “bend but don’t break” approach and hold strong to force another Eagles punt.
On the Tigers’ second possession, they would once again flirt with the end zone, but ultimately still fall short of coming up with points. On third-and-8 at the Paris 30, Burleson hit Gaona on an inside slant route that would have been a touchdown, but was called back for an ineligible receiver downfield. Charleston would have to punt again, but was able to pin the Eagles deep at their own 6-yard line.
Charleston would force another Paris three-and-out and punt, and this time would take over with great field position at the Paris 31-yard line as the first quarter came to a close, still scoreless.
On the opening drive of the second quarter, Charleston was able to drive down to the Paris 14-yard line, faced with a fourth down and 4. Charleston called a direct snap to Finn Schmalz, and Schmalz broke a tackle in the backfield, broke another at the second level, and powered his way into the end zone for a touchdown. The Gaona extra point made the score 7-0 Tigers with 9:48 left in the second quarter.
Charleston would keep that momentum going on defense, as Matteo Gaona intercepted a deep pass attempt from Honea on Paris’ second play of the drive. Unfortunately, the offense wasn’t able to build on the lead and had to punt again.
Given a second chance to connect on a deep pass, Paris would capitalize this time. With the ball at the Charleston 44-yard line, Paris’ Josh Honea connected with Harley Barnhill for a 44-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was blocked as Charleston held on to a 7-6 lead with 4:18 left in the first half.
After the touchdown, Paris would try to steal a possession before the half and almost succeeded. The Eagles’ tried a surprise onside kick, and recovered the ball, but were called for an illegal formation. Paris only had three men to the left side of the kicker, when four are required. After the penalty, they would try a second onside kick, but this one was recovered by the Tigers.
Charleston was unable to gain any momentum on the following possession, and was forced to punt to Paris with 34 seconds to go in the first half. The Eagles would run out the clock, with the score still 7-6 in favor of Charleston going into halftime.
After the halftime break, Charleston would rely on more of the ground game on a night when the Tigers were to held to only 26 passing yards. The Tigers were able to grind down to the Paris 21-yard line, facing a fourth down and 4. But in a defensive struggle like this, every point matters. Charleston called on Matteo Gaona to try a 31-yard field goal attempt, and he delivered to extend the Tigers’ lead to 10-6 with 6:05 remaining in the third quarter.
It wouldn’t take long for Paris to respond. A 25-yard kickoff return set the Eagles up with good field position near midfield. Charleston would force Paris into a third-and-11 on the drive, but Honea responded with a 14-yard keeper for a first down, immediately followed by another 11-yard scramble. Honea would eventually score on a 2-yard carry to take a 12-10 lead following a failed two-point conversion with 2:13 left in the third quarter.
Luckily for Charleston, when you have a capable field goal kicker, a two-point lead is never safe. Following a solid kickoff return, and aided by a chop block penalty on Paris, the Tigers were able to drive down to the Paris 17-yard line, and kicked another Gaona field goal, this time from 30 yards out to retake the lead 13-12 over Paris. Charleston would not let go of the lead again.
On Paris’ next offensive possession, the Charleston defense would push the Eagles back, forcing -6 yards on the drive. Paris would punt on fourth down and 16, with Charleston taking over at its own 36.
Charleston wouldn’t need a long, sustained drive to wait for their next score. On the first play of the drive, Finn Schmalz found a hole right down the middle and busted through untouched, taking it all the way to house for a 64-yard touchdown run. Gaona’s extra point was good, giving the Tigers a 20-12 lead with 7:20 to go in the ballgame.
Despite trailing by eight, Paris wouldn’t go away easily. On the ensuing possession, the Eagles were able to drive into Charleston territory after two Honea first downs through the air, but the drive stalled from there. Faced with a fourth-and-9 at midfield, Charleston linebacker Gunner Schmalz broke through for a sack, giving the Tigers the ball back after the turnover on downs with 4:03 left in the game.
On their final possession of the game, Charleston would once again rely on a heavy dose of the ground game, and also run out the clock. After alternating carries between Schmalz and Burleson, the drive was capped off by a 12-yard Burleson keeper for a touchdown to give Charleston a 27-12 lead with 53 seconds left in the game.
Paris fought until the end, and would score again as time expired on a Honea keeper to make the final score 27-19 Charleston.
Finn Schmalz led the way on the ground with 171 yards on 23 carries while Lukas Burleson added 64 yards. Charleston had a total of 268 yards rushing on the night and 26 yards passing.
Defensively, Gunner Schmalz led the team with 11 tackles, followed by Finn Schmalz and Brayden Bates with six apiece.
Charleston will host Cedarville next Friday in their first home game since September 11th.
Photos by Ronni Tate Young. See more on the Team Press Pass Facebook Page.
