Paradise linebacker Teagan Lambert lays the wood against Gainesville quarterback Stryker Johnson. The Paradise defense limited the Leopards to just 27 total yards in the 71-0 win on Friday. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
Paradise’s team motto for 2025 is “Be perfect,” and the Panthers looked every bit of that against Gainesville on Friday.
Paradise (1-0) recorded 426 yards of total offense while limiting the Leopards to just 27, easily handing the visitors a 71-0 loss in Week 1.
It was the first win for the Panthers in the Tommy Koch era.
“We always say that football is fun and we love winning, and we got to do that tonight,” Koch said. “I was really happy for our seniors, because I told them this is the last time they’ll have a season-opener, and they did a great job of leading us tonight.”
After shaking off some early game jitters, the Panthers got to work and never looked back.
Quarterback Ayden Olalde found running back/linebacker Cash Watson for the first score of the night on a 10-yard slant 4 minutes into the game. The Panthers surprised the Leopards with an onside kick and scored two plays later on Olalde’s 37-yard bomb to receiver Layne Smith.
By the 2:00 mark in the first quarter, Paradise had hung 30 points on Gainesville with four Olalde passing touchdowns and a safety.
Paradise quarterback Adyen Olalde throws off-balance against the Gainesville defense. He went 8-for-10 on the night for 284 yards passing and six touchdowns. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
He ended his night with 284 yards passing and six touchdowns. And he only needed eight completions to do it.
“Our offense looked pretty good tonight. Our line did a good job trying to take care of Gainesville’s pretty big D-line,” Olalde said. “We really have the fastest receivers and running backs in 3A. I just have to get the ball to them and we’re good.”
Paradise continued to keep the Leopards at bay in the second quarter, aided by Watson’s punt block and interception in the span of 3 minutes. His defense turned right back into Panther offense, where backup quarterback Aiden Brittain rushed in from the 11 in a brief relief appearance for Olalde to go up 43-0 on Gainesville.
The Panthers forced four turnovers on the night.
“I think we were very sound across the board on defense. Our DBs do an incredible job in a really tough position to play, and we’ve got good linebackers,” Watson said. “I think we have a good chance to shut out more teams this year. We just gotta stay tough like Jesus.”
The highlight of the night came from Olalde’s scramble drill that landed in the hands of Luke Brown for a score in late in the first half.
After doing his best Houdini impression to escape a collapsing pocket, Olalde’s off-balance throw found Brown near the home sideline. The senior running back managed to catch the turf-scraping pass, keep his feet and bounce his way off of defenders on a trip to the end zone on the opposite side of the field.
Paradise linebacker Cash Watson dives in an attempt to block a Styker Johnson punt. Watson had one punt block and an interception in the Panthers’ 71-0 win. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
“I bounced off the corner, and when I got turned around I saw at least three guys around me,” Brown said. “I decided my best bet was opposite field, then bounced off another and took it to the house.”
Brown was Paradise leading receiver with two catches for 119 yards.
The Panthers piled on 21 more points in the second half with a running clock.
Brittain and running back Brayden Miller both had 1-yard rushing touchdowns, while Cody Bridgeman tacked on a 19-yard score on the ground to close out the big night for the Panthers.
“There were obviously some mistakes we need to clean up, but overall our kids did really execute the gameplan early,” Koch said. “We knew we had to be the aggressors, which is why on Monday I decided we were going to do that onside kick no matter what. We wanted to be aggressive early so [Gainesville’s] talent couldn’t come into the game. I think we were able to do that at a high level.”
Koch said Paradise benefited from being able to play its bench in the second half with the game mostly put away.
“We’ve got a lot of good football players that don’t start, so they got good, meaningful reps tonight,” Koch said. “We’ll evaluate the film, and hopefully that allows us to not always have the same dudes on the field all the time.”
The Panthers travel to 4A Godley next week. Koch said that it will be a test against a team that has size and physicality across the board.
“They’re talented and execute at a very high level. I think their coaching staff does a phenomenal job,” he said. “They beat us last year and it wasn’t a mistake — they beat us. We will have to play great football to win.”
Luke Brown races down the sideline on his way to the end zone. The senior running back had two catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns on Friday. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
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