After two Friday nights on the road the first two weeks of the season, the Paris Eagles returned home to the friendly confines of Eagles Stadium for their home opener against West Fork. This was the final non-conference game of the season for Paris, and the Eagles were looking to go 3-0 on the season, avoid injury, and go into the bye week next Friday with a chance to rest and prepare for their conference opener at Mayflower. The Tigers presented a challenge to Paris and would be a test of the Eagles’ defensive line and linebacker corps. The Eagles passed the test with flying colors as they routed West Fork, 54-0.
Paris scored on their first possession of the game, showing the home fans their quick strike and explosive scoring capability on offense. Duke Walker scored the first Paris touchdown early in the first quarter, and the route was on. After the score, West Fork moved the ball on offense down to the Paris four yard line. The drive would be the only time in the game the Tigers could sustain a drive against the Eagles defense. But then, Bo Bain, who had a monster game for the Eagles, recovered a fumble and returned it all the way for a quick touchdown. The play not only stopped the West Fork drive, but took away any momentum the Tigers would have on the night, and the score was 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. And then the dam broke for West Fork.
Paris would go on to score 33 unanswered points in the second quarter and would lead at halftime, 47-0. Touchdowns by Chase Watts on a quarterback keeper, a fumble recovery by Duke Walker, another Chase Watts run for a touchdown, and a Bo Bain interception with 8:40 to go in the second quarter were among the highlights for the Eagles that burried West Fork and put the game out of reach for the Tigers. For the third consecutive week, the sportsmanship rule took effect and the second half was played with a continuous clock.
Eagles coach Jeff Weaver mass substituted his players once again, and back-up quarterback Maddox Watts would eventually run for another touchdown to end the scoring at 54 for the Eagles. Duke Walker ran for 105 yards despite the early substitutions that took place in the second half.
The Eagles appeared to escape the game without player injuries, and it was mission accomplished for the Eagles going into the bye week. After the game, Eagles coach Jeff Weaver said, “I’m very happy how we came out and took control right from the beginning. West Fork has a good team that is struggling to get rolling with injuries and such. I didn’t want to give them any momentum and our kids did great! We have plenty to clean up, particularly penalties. Glad we have a bye week to heal up and fix those things.”
The 15th ranked Eagles have next week off before they travel to Mayflower on September 24 to begin conference play. Paris is sitting exactly where they wanted to be at the start of the season, and now, each game counts toward a conference championship and has playoffs and playoff seeding implications. Paris appears to be healthy coming off the non-conference portion of their schedule, and it will be “all hands on deck” from this point forward to the Eagles as they hope to repeat their appearance in the state playoffs in November and perhaps improve their win totals in the state playoffs. But for Jeff Weaver and the Eagles, it is very much “one game at a time”, and next up is the talented Mayflower Eagles on their artificial turf in Mayflower.
Additional photos from this game will be posted on Facebook on Sunday night, September 12, Resident Press will be in Mayflower on September 24 to bring you coverage of the Eagles first conference game of 2021. Stay with Resident Press for the most complete coverage of Paris Eagles football!
Congratulations to the Eagles on their big win over West Fork, and enjoy a much-deserved week off after going 3-0 in non-conference play!
Enjoy your weekend, and please say a prayer for our nation tomorrow on the twentieth anniversary of the terrorists attacks on September 11.
