Parish Rallies Past Tigers in OT
Preston Stone’s 24-yard touchdown run in overtime capped a thrilling comeback for Parish Episcopal in its season-opening 33-27 win over Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill on Thursday at Snyder Stadium.
Although Stone delivered the knockout punch, Christian Benson’s four touchdowns helped the Panthers (1-0) rally from a 13-0 halftime deficit in a nationally televised matchup of teams with significant postseason expectations.
The Parish victory snapped a 24-game winning streak for TCS, which has claimed back-to-back TAPPS Division II state titles.
The Tigers (1-1) surged to the early advantage behind two first-half touchdown runs by Shedeur Sanders, son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. The elder Sanders is TCS’s offensive coordinator.
The Panthers got going in the third quarter, taking a 14-13 lead on back-to-back touchdown passes from Stone to Benson. The teams exchanged scored from there, with the Tigers assuming a 27-21 advantage on Shedeur Sanders’ third touchdown run of the game with 7:55 left.
After Parish’s Kaleb Culp recovered a fumble by the Tigers, Benson reached the end zone on a 14-yard scamper with 5:43 remaining, but the extra point was blocked.
That set up overtime, when the Panthers stopped TCS on downs on the opening possession, setting the stage for Stone’s heroics.
In the battle between two blue-chip quarterback recruits, Stone completed 14 of 24 throws for 201 yards and two touchdowns, while Sanders connected on 23 of 33 passes for 183 yards and also ran for three scores.
The Panthers will hit the road for their next two games, beginning on Sept. 13 at Tyler Grace.
