Paradise linebacker Teagan Lambert upends Bowie running back William Brown at Panther Stadium Friday. Paradise (5-1, 2-0) stayed perfect in district play with the 43-9 win. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER

Paradise outscored Bowie 20-0 in the second half Friday to stay undefeated in District 4-3AI.

The Panthers (5-1, 2-0) scored two touchdowns with relative ease in the first quarter to take a 15-0 lead within the first five minutes of the game, but started to give up control in the second quarter. Bowie quarterback Rayder Mann tossed a 16-yard touchdown to Colton Dosch to cut Paradise’s lead to 6.

On the ensuing drive, Paradise receiver Layne Smith reeled in two incredible balls tossed by quarterback Ayden Olalde to set up Luke Brown for a 2-yard rushing touchdown before the first half came to a close.

From there on it was domination by Paradise, with Brown, Elijah Jennings and Jacob Jones all registering second half scores while the defense kept Mann scrambling for his life.

Paradise coach Tommy Koch said a few simple, but crucial halftime adjustments helped pave the way for the Panthers in the second half.

“It wasn’t anything major. I told the kids, ‘Hey, great first half, but if we change up a few things we’re about to roll,'” he said. “They executed well to those adjustments, so I’m super proud of them for that.”

The two teams traded some punts to start the third quarter, but Paradise broke the lull at the 5:16 mark. After Jennings’ punt return set up the Panthers inside the red zone, Brown took a 16-yard rush up the middle for the first score of the second half.

He had 14 rushes for 71 yards on the night and three touchdowns on the ground.

“We probably could’ve done better in the second quarter, but overall, our offense did a good job tonight,” Brown said. “The coaches adjusted to how [Bowie’s] linebackers were coming down and rushing the outside game at half, and that really opened up everything, even inside run. It was really the coaching that got us going.”

The Paradise defense held Bowie to just seven yards on the ensuing drive, setting up shop at the Jackrabbits’ 32 after the three-and-out and finding the end zone again. Jennings left his defender in the turf on a slant route thrown by Olalde, then walked into the end zone for a 23-yard receiving touchdown.

Paradise linebacker Teagan Lambert said the defense was able to slow down the Bowie offense by limiting Mann’s damage.

“We knew he was going to try to read us on the option plays, so it was just about sitting on it and not letting him get the ball,” Lambert said. “And then on pass plays, we tried to keep the outside edge to contain him.”

Jones, Paradise’s leading rusher on the night, put the Panthers on the board one final time with a 65-yard sprint with about 4 minutes to go. He ran the ball just five times, but racked up 83 yards in the process.

Olalde was the game’s top passer, going 9-of-13 for 185 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. His top target was Smith, who only needed four catches to register 117 yards receiving.

Paradise travels to Iowa Park in Week 7. The Hawks lost 46-20 against Peaster Friday and dropped to 0-2 in District 4-3AI.

“They’re really big and physical. They have a very talented running back and they’ve got a receiver that’s a stud, so you have to keep eyes on them all the time,” Koch said. “And then defensively they’re really sound. It’ll be another tough district football game.”

Paradise receiver Layne Smith leaps to grab a pass on top of his defender. He had four catches and 117 yards receiving in the 43-9 win against Bowie. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER

Key takeaways

You can’t stop them all

To put it plainly, Paradise just has too many weapons on the field for most teams to compete with.

Four different Panthers scored on Friday, with damage split evenly between the passing and run game.

Jennings had two touchdowns thrown by Olalde, Brown rushed into the end zone twice and Jones tacked on a late rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

And although Smith was kept out of the end zone during this contest, he deserves his flowers for some incredible catches. His miracle sideline catch in the first quarter set up Paradise’s first touchdown, then his reception near the goal line late in the second translated directly to a goal line rushing touchdown by Brown.

Defense continues to impress

Bowie quarterback Rayder Mann is probably the most athletic kid on nearly every field he walks on to, but the Panthers were able to keep him at bay.

Paradise’s defense held Bowie to just 150 total yards of offense and kept Mann at 111 yards — 83 passing and 28 rushing. The shifty dual-threat quarterback was brought down four times in his own backfield and flushed out of the pocket virtually every time he dropped back to pass.

Competing against Vernon quarterback Ty Scott last week proved to be a good warmup for facing another offense built around a scrambling passer.

The Panthers have momentum, but so does a district rival

Paradise moved to 2-0 in District 4-3AI with the win and the confidence gained from it is evident among the players. Long gone are the days of sneaking into the playoffs — the Panthers have their eyes set on a district title and another deep run.

Paradise travels to Iowa Park in Week 7. The Hawks lost 46-20 to Peaster on Friday.

Paradise and Peaster remain the only two undefeated teams in the league. Mark your calendars for Oct. 17, where the Panthers host the Greyhounds for what could very well be the deciding game for the District 4-3AI crown.

Free story access is brought to you by Barefoot Pools.