Nolan Tops Panthers for District Title

Parish Episcopal lost the district championship on Friday, but gained some extra motivation for the playoffs.

Fort Worth Nolan scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to rally past the Panthers 31-14 in the regular-season finale at Doskocil Stadium.

That means the Vikings will be the top seed from District 1 in the TAPPS Division I playoffs. Nolan will get a first-round bye, while Parish will host winless Bishop Lynch on Nov. 20.

The Panthers (6-1) had their 16-game winning streak snapped, and were held to fewer than 17 points for the first time in more than two years.

The loss means that in order to defend their state title, the Panthers will need to win four postseason games instead of just three. That journey begins with a rematch against the Friars, who were thumped by Parish 43-7 in the season opener.

On Friday, the Panthers took a 14-0 lead into the halftime break after two Preston Stone touchdown passes — one each to Christian Benson and Blake Youngblood. Meanwhile, the Parish defense blanked a Nolan offense that averaged more than 40 points per game.

However, the Panthers also committed three turnovers to fuel the second-half comeback by the Vikings (6-0). The backfield combination of Emeka Megwa and Sergio Snider led the charge, with Snider accounting for three touchdowns. Megwa powered for 99 yards and added a 20-yard score through the air that gave Nolan its first lead with 7:20 remaining in the game.

Stone finished with 210 passing yards on 16 of 27 completions. Andrew Paul rushed for 73 yards, and Jai Moore added four catches for a game-high 80 receiving yards.