PARIS- The 2022 football season was a tough year for the Paris Eagles. And no one knows that more than the Eagles players who put themselves on the line each and every week in what turned out to be a brutal season. But emerging from that very tough year is this year’s unquestioned leader of the 2023 edition of the Paris Eagles. Senior quarterback Maddox Watts will lead his troops into battle starting August 25 at home versus the Waldron Bulldogs.
No one knew it at the time, but last year’s game at Waldron was an unfortunate sign of things to come for the entire season. Leading 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, Paris seemingly was in control of the game and was playing toward winning their 2022 season opener.
But then, disaster struck. Paris committed consecutive turnovers that all lead to touchdowns for the Bulldogs. And when the first half ended, it was a shell-shocked Eagles team that went into the locker room, down by the score of 35-7. Consecutive fumbles allowed Waldron to take possession inside Eagles territory, and the Bulldogs capitalized on every Paris turnover.
The big halftime deficit took the Paris offense out of their game plan and seemed to set the tone for the rest of the season. This year’s return game in Paris will again be very important to both Waldron and Paris.
So, when I had the opportunity to visit with Maddox on the phone last week, we immediately began to talk about the importance of the Waldron game to the potential success of the Eagles in 2023. We talked about his anticipation of his senior year and the importance of the Eagles’ first game at home versus Waldron. Maddox began by saying, “I am pretty excited. I really am. Right now, I am just doing football and basketball practice. Both sports are doing conditioning work, so, outside, I am also doing my own workouts, going on runs, just to stay in shape.” And in shape he is. Maddox looks like he could step onto the field, the court, or wherever and be physically ready to play right now.
Maddox started for the Eagles last year as a junior. On offense, as the Paris quarterback, Maddox was on the run on virtually every down. Either as a designed quarterback run, or scrambling to avoid the rush, Watts was constantly looking for an open receiver while running and often times tucking the ball to get as much yardage on his own as possible. As a result of all of his scrambling, he seemingly took one big hit after another. In the course of a season, those hits can take their toll. In 2023, he is looking for better protection and more open receivers to throw the ball to downfield. Asking if he felt that things would improve this season with better protection and receivers who can get open, Maddox said, “Yeah, I feel like it is (going to get better this season). I know the line has improved so I should be fine.” Maddox feels that there will be bigger size on the line this year and more talent on the Eagles’ offensive line this season. A lot of the guys have gotten stronger and bigger and have improved overall.”
This season, after having played in the Eagles new conference last year, I asked Maddox if he thought Paris’ offensive line matched-up well with the conference’s defensive lines he saw last year. He responded by saying, “I really don’t know. Some of the teams, I remember Mansfield, they had a huge defensive line, and pretty sure that Waldron did too. But I just don’t know.”
No doubt, the 3A-4 conference will again be a very tough and physical conference. Glen Rose will be the overwhelming favorite to again win the conference championship, and Paris will travel there to play the Beavers in the first conference game for both schools. Bismarck will challenge Glen Rose, meaning that the rest of the conference will likely be playing for playoff spots 3-5, realistically.
But Paris has a good opportunity to be 2-1 or even 3-0 in the early non-conference portion of their schedule. The Eagles will have a bye week after the third game of the season before they begin conference play at Glen Rose the following week. Early momentum generated by early success is going to be critical for this team after the nightmare season of a year ago.
Waldron is predicted to again finish at the bottom of a very tough 4A-7 conference according to Hooten’s Arkansas Football publication. The 4A-7 consists of Malvern who won the state 4A title a year ago, along with Arkadelphia, Nashville, and Mena. In 2022, Waldron allowed an average of 35.7 points per game while scoring just 16.3 points per game. So, there will be opportunities for the Paris offense to score against a Bulldogs defense that will return six starters on defense. Under new head coach Cain White who moved from the Northeast Arkansas community of Manilla, the Bulldogs will feature the flexbone rushing attack. They will undoubtedly look to shorten games and keep their defense off the field. The explosive passing attack of the Eagles with Maddox Watts and head coach Jeff Weaver may have the opportunity to score quickly and force the Bulldogs out of their game plan early.
But all of that remains to be seen. And to do it, Paris must avoid the turnovers that killed them a year ago in Waldron. When I asked Maddox about the importance of their first game to the team’s possible success in 2023, he shared, “It is important to everybody, but to me, it is very important. It’s more about the mistakes we made in 2022. If we had not made the mistakes we made last year, we may not have won the game, but we would have done better in the game.” The first half fumbles took Paris out of their game plan for the second half, and that turned out to be a microcosm of the entire season.
We talked about the importance of getting off to a good start and generating momentum early. Two to three non-conference wins and another two to three conference victories could not only give the Eagles a winning season but could put them into position in the conference standings to be a four or five seed in the state playoffs. Of course, a four seed would be better than traveling across the state to play a one seed in mid-November. But a playoff berth would be the third playoff appearance for the program in the past four years and would be a good springboard for a young team going into the off-season and into the 2024 season. Maddox added, “Last year, we just needed to win to show ourselves that we could..that we could be something, we just have to work for it. If we win our first game this year, we could get something going.”
A zero week win on August 25 would set up a showdown at Mansfield where the Tigers are very tough at home. It would be the first big road test of the season for the young Eagles, and after last year’s devastating loss at home to the Tigers, it will be very important for this team to play well and to compete at Mansfield.
Last year’s season was a nightmare year for Paris with emotions boiling over seemingly each week. The Eagles continued to play hard, but as the injuries continued to stack up and the team having very little success on the field, it was just a very tough year. But some of those players who endured the pain of 2022 will be returning this year as leaders for a young and talented roster. I asked Maddox if having faced the adversity of last year was going to help him and the other returning players in their leadership role this year. Maddox said, “We are all in this together.” Short and to the point, Maddox is exactly right. There will undoubtedly be times when it gets rough on the field, but those returning players should be able to look the younger ones in the eyes and tell them that they have been through worse times than this, and together, we are going to get through this.
A few times this summer I have had the chance to talk with the Eagles head coach, Jeff Weaver, and I will share with our readers that Coach Weaver really likes this team. To paraphrase, this is a team that he does not have to motivate to work. They like to work, practice, and are self-motivated to not go through again this season what they endured last year. And their leader on the field, both on offense and defense, Maddox Watts will be there every week and will leave it on the field every Friday night. He always has, and he always will. That is just Maddox; he is athletic, competitive, and has great drive and determination. “All of us that played last year want revenge.”
The Eagles have been busy this summer, working out on their own, as well as in organized practices, camps, and even a day trip to the University of Arkansas to participate in the Razorbacks Football Camp. Asking Maddox what he thought about his experience at the Razorbacks camp, he said, “I didn’t realize how good they (college coaches) work you out. Their knowledge and stuff like that, I’ve never experienced that. But it was a really good experience. I had a lot of fun.” Watts had the opportunity as a quarterback to receive coaching from the Hogs’ offensive coordinator, Dan Enos. When I asked him about that, he said, “It was interesting. He showed us a couple of things that I had not seen before…drills and stuff like that. It was really interesting. Some of the foot work, might be something I can use this season.” Watts, like the other campers, had a short time with the U of A staff, but nonetheless, it was a great experience for him and all of the Paris players who made the trip to Fayetteville.
Having followed the Eagles all summer at both the Charleston and Pottsville football camps, it was evident to this observer that Paris seemed to make progress with each opportunity to play against other schools. It is always hard to gauge a team’s progress in just shorts and shoulder pads, but compared to this point a year ago, the Eagles seemed to be further along in their development going into next month’s regular season opener. When I asked Maddox about what he thought, he said, “Oh yeah. I look at the team when we started this summer and then where we finished up at Pottsville (Pottsville summer camp held in July), I feel like we really improved. You know, you really need that experience to see what it would be like, and we definitely improved. Most of it (the improvement from last year to this year) is because of the young guys who came up along with some of the returners.”
When Maddox takes the field on offense this season, there will be just three familiar faces looking back at him that played last season. Those four players went through the war of a season last year in 2022. They will definitely be the spiritual leaders of the team having endured the losses and the pain of the 1-8 season a year ago. Maddox added, “I feel like if we are having some issues in a game this season, we can tell the others that, “OK guys, we have been through worse, and we’ve got this.” We just have to show the others that we trust them, and they can trust us.”
As a tribute to the Paris fans, they too endured a tough year in 2022. But in true Eagles tradition, they kept coming to Eagles Stadium and rooting on their beloved Eagles. In a lot of communities, the attendance would have waned, but the Paris fans kept coming. It inspires the team, and this young group of Eagles will once again rely on the Big Blue Nation to show up in large numbers for important home games on the Eagles’ schedule.
All games are important in conference play, but games with Two Rivers, Jessieville, and Danville are extremely important to the Eagles’ playoff chances. In fact, the Eagles are forecasted by some publications to finish sixth in the conference, above the Two Rivers Gators. Danville, who was unable to finish their season a year ago, has been predicted to finish fifth. I am thinking that may be posted in the locker room all season as motivation for Paris to make the playoffs.
So, for the Eagles to attain their goal of returning to the playoffs, Paris must win the games that they have the chance to win. That may sound a little jaded, but eight teams in the conference are more than likely playing for third place. A fourth-place finish by Paris would be a big leap from last year’s season. Maddox added, “That’s something that gives me confidence, seeing people doubt us. When in our minds, we know we can achieve something, like do a lot better than last year. That (being predicted to finish sixth in the conference) is something that can help all of us. I know there are people who are doubting us, and we want to show them how good we can really be.”
After the completion of this year’s junior high season, the Eagles will add freshmen to their roster for Week Ten. The talented junior high group that people have been talking about will begin to appear for Paris just before the playoffs and could give the Eagles a little more depth on their roster late in the season.
Individually, Maddox has the goal of joining the Army and eventually becoming an Army Ranger. He is comfortable in this year being his last year to play organized sports. College sports are not on his radar, and Maddox plans to follow in the service in his father’s footsteps. But until then, Maddox says that his main goal for his senior year is something he focuses on every day. “My main goal that I focus on every day is to just always be better today than you were yesterday. And to keep working and push yourself.”
If you have ever watched Maddox play, regardless of the sport, he is the type of athlete and competitor who will “leave it all out there” in every game. When the game is over, there is “not much left in the gas tank”, for Maddox will always play hard and give it everything that he has. It is this effort, work ethic, and spirit of competition that will make him a success after high school. And if Maddox has his way, he will use those traits for the benefit of all of us as he serves our nation in the United States Army.
I want to thank Maddox for his time and contributions this story. He is a class act and is a lot of fun to watch play. All of us at RNN Sports can’t wait to watch him and the Eagles play to turnaround the 2022 season, and yes, return to the state playoffs.
Good luck to Maddox Watts and the Paris Eagles in the upcoming high school football season!
