Paris Panthers dominate on the field and court

Caanan Sherbino blocks a ball during a Senior Boys’ match up against BCI. Paris won in three straight games to continue its winning streak.

George Le Gresley

Sports Correspondent 

Senior Panthers Football

Coming into last Thursday’s game, there was a consensus that BCI, with their massive roster and previous year’s league champions, just might be favored to win this game. Head Coach Head Ed Kelly and the Panthers players had differing views. For those who only watch the NFL, the “tush push,” where everyone pushes the ball carrier forward, is illegal in Canadian football. In fact, if the “tush push” happens in Canada, the penalty for this infraction is called a Tandem Buck! Coach Kelly has an Offensive line that almost bullied the BCI defense, pushing them backward, allowing the Panther running backs to gain plenty of yards. 

The first quarter started with Paris executing an onside kick and recovering the ball and taking the ball down the field for a touchdown by Colton Gloade, giving Paris a 6-0 lead. 

Early in the second, Panther quarterback Ryan Smith carried the ball across the goal line, with Bhav Arujla kicking a convert for a 13-0 lead. BCI followed up with a converted touchdown for a score of 13-7. With 22 seconds remaining in the first half, Gloade scored his second touchdown, and Aujla kicked the convert to end the half, leading BCI 27-7.

The Mustangs scored the next touchdown and failed in attempting a two-point convert, followed by tackling the Panther QB in the end zone for a two-point safety. At the end of the third quarter, Paris led BCI 27-15.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, BCI tried an onside kick, but failed to recover the ball, giving the Panthers a first down at the BCI 51-yard line. From that point on Panthers won with a final score of 27-15.

Junior Panthers Football

BCI shut out the Panthers on the scoreboard for the win.

Please note that due to a tragedy involving a fatal car accident, Assumption College has asked that the games scheduled Saturday, October 18, be rescheduled. The rescheduled date is October 17th at the Kiwanis Field with the Juniors starting at 5 pm and the Seniors at 7 pm. 

Girls Flag Football

Flag Football has been garnering a lot of attention, primarily from the Men’s National team on the American side, a few months ago. The sport will also be a demonstration sport at the future Los Angeles Olympics. 

Thanks to some teachers at St John’s, a tournament was organized last Wednesday. The Panthers participated in this tournament, which featured six teams from St. John’s, two teams from North Park, an entry from McKinnon Park, Great Lakes Christian School from Beamsville, and an entry from Paris High. 

The Panthers went undefeated during round-robin play, with three wins and a tie, which qualified the team for a spot in the semi-finals. There, they played and defeated the North Park Collegiate Green side 20-13. The finals pitted the Panthers against the North Park Orange side, the team with which the Paris side tied 12-12 during round-robin play. Unfortunately, they lost the final 13-0.

Harley Shuart's determined running was named the team’s MVP. Nora Kovacs, Ava Ross, Kayla Padusenko, Eira Feairs, Jadyn Hastings, Sydney Kipp, Rowan Worrall, Peyton Andree, Faith Smith. The coaches were Mr. Murchie and student Ryan Smith. 

Boys Volleyball

The Senior Boys' volleyball team continues its winning streak by defeating Brantford Collegiate in three straight games. This season, in their first seven matches, they have only lost two games, including a best-of-five match against second-place North Park. During this season, you’ll see Coach Dela Rosa sitting on the bench, relaxed as the team cruises to a victory, emphasizing to the team after the match that they have to focus on eliminating mistakes that give away points to the opposition. On Friday, the team travels to Ancaster for a tournament, with the results to be reported in next week’s edition.

The Junior side didn’t fare as well, losing their match to BCI.

Girls Basketball

Last Monday, the Junior and Senior Panthers travelled to BCI for their matches. The Junior side lost their game; however, Genevieve Cariere led the team in scoring.

The Senior side beat the Mustangs on their home court by a score of 39 to 35.

Varsity Girls Fastball

Last Wednesday, the Panther side dominated Pauline Johnson by a score of 13-2.

Varsity Boys Baseball

Last Wednesday, the Panthers had a doubleheader, with the first game against McKinnon Park, which the Paris side edged by a score of 5-4. In the bottom half of the two-game schedule, the Paris Panthers routed the Cayuga secondary 16-3.