Paradise linebacker Cash Watson sacks Eagle Mountain quarterback Brycen Vindiola on a late game drive by the Knights. Watson was a standout on defense and special teams, with a strip sack, blocked punt and blocked field goal attempt. MIKE HALL | FOR THE MESSENGER
For nearly four full quarters, Paradise trailed the visiting Eagle Mountain Knights on Friday.
But with 1:06 left to play, the Panthers (2-1) found the break they had been looking for all night.
To bookend the 68-yard, crunch time drive, Olalde tossed a pair of beautful passes to Logan Lampley (31 yards) and Layne Smith (21 yards), the latter of which went for a touchdown to put Paradise ahead of Eagle Mountain 27-26.
As soon as the Panthers took their first lead, it was back to trailing.
With 28 seconds left to go, Eagle Mountain running back Terry Starks busted a run up the middle and carried it 42 yards for a score, leading to a 7-point lead for the Knights after a successful 2-point conversion.
Paradise couldn’t pull off another miracle on the ensuing drive.
Staring at 71 yards of open field to secure a win, Paradise’s drive was put on ice after Eagle Mountain picked off quarterback Ayden Olalde on a shot to the end zone with six seconds left. The Knights kneeled out the game to deliver the Panthers their first loss of the year on homecoming, 34-27.
Paradise coach Tommy Koch said the loss reflected on him as a coach not having his players ready for the game — one that he said presented a “playoff-type” of atmosphere.
“No. 1, I’m super proud of the kids, because we’re undersized and outmanned. [Eagle Mountain] had twice as many kids as us, and our guys are cramping up all game because they can’t come out for a break, but they didn’t back down for a second,” Koch said. “The loss falls on me. It’s my job to make sure we’re prepared and ready to go, and we weren’t. I have to do a better job of that next week.”
The Knights gashed Paradise from the jump. On the first play of the game, Starks took an inside run for a 75-yard touchdown. After forcing a Paradise three-and-out on the ensuing drive, Eagle Mountain scored again at the 8:48 mark in the first quarter.
Eagle Mountain quarterback Brycen Vindiola tossed a sideline bomb that was bobbled and secured by receiver Jaxon Trammell in the red zone, then Vindiola called his own number for a 7-yard rushing touchdown. Vindiola was nine-for-24 on the night for 173 yards and a touchdown.
At the end of the first quarter, Paradise was able to get on the board. Receiver Layne Smith reeled in a 38-yard strike from Olalde to set up at the Eagle Mountain 24, then Olalde found Elijah Jennings for an 8-yard touchdown.
Jennings was the top target through the air for the Panthers, reeling in four balls for 116 yards.
Paradise linebacker Cash Watson was able to strip sack Vindiola early in the second quarter, but the Panthers couldn’t capitalize on it. Three minutes later, Vindiola found Starks for a 21-yard touchdown through the air.
As the first half dwindled, the game turned bizarre and gave hints to what the rest of the night would look like.
Eagle Mountain blocked Bryce Chipman’s field goal attempt with three minutes to play in the half, but on the ensuing drive went three-and-out and had its own punt blocked by Watson.
The special teams chaos led to a 4-yard Olalde rushing touchdown to bring the Panthers within seven (20-13) as the game entered halftime.
“I think those moments are a reflection of who we are as a team,” Koch said. “In not-ideal situations, don’t try to be Superman. Do your job and trust that the guys next to you will do theirs.”
Eagle Mountain forced three straight negative plays after the Panthers took the second half kickoff and turned it into points. After a Vindiola keeper carried the Knights down to the Paradise 20, Starks found the end zone a few plays later from the 3-yard line to go up by 13.
As the game entered the fourth quarter and looked out of hand, Paradise silenced the doubt. And the first half oddities came back to life.
Backed up in his own end zone, Olalde escaped a would-be sack and tossed a 50/50 ball to Cody Bridgeman, who made a miraculous 34-yard reception and moved the chains. Camden Walker took the game into his own hands a moment later, ripping through the Eagle Mountain secondary and into the end zone for a 57-yard score tossed by Olalde.
Olade went 17-of-27 for 338 yards passing and three touchdowns, and threw two interceptions. He also rushed for 38 yards on 20 attempts and a score.
Paradise recovered the ensuing kickoff, but Eagle Mountain stripped Olalde on the Panthers’ first play of the new drive. The Paradise defense forced a three-and-out, then nearly coughed up the ball on the punt return.
After securing the muffed punt, Olalde was picked off again by the Knights. A potential game-sealing drive was stymied by another strong showing from the Panthers’ defense, where they snuffed out a reverse pass on fourth-and-12 to take the ball back with 3:49 left to play.
The turnover on downs resulted in the late back-and-forth scoring affair that Paradise was on the losing end of to close out the contest.
“We work on a lot of situational football, so those moments when we dig ourselves out of a hole come from preparation and execution,” Koch said. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t do that enough times tonight.”
Paradise wraps up non-district play with a road test against Millsap next week. The Bulldogs fell 42-18 to Tolar on Thursday.
“We have to get better. We’re playing a lot of really good football teams coming up, so every practice is important,” Koch said. “We’ll see teams like [Eagle Mountain] in district and in the playoffs, so we have to be laser-focused on a daily basis.”
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