Panthers Hold Off Prestonwood to Advance

By Michael Finnegan / Contributor

PLANO — After five-plus years, Parish Episcopal is not ready to surrender the top spot in TAPPS football without a fight.

Sawyer Anderson passed for 439 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers held off district rival Plano Prestonwood 61-55 in a Division I quarterfinal on Friday.

With its championship dynasty on the line, Parish avenged a 52-49 loss to the Lions during the regular season on the same field. The Panthers (8-4) advance to meet another district foe, upstart Frisco Legacy, in the state semifinals next week.

Anderson, a four-year starter and Purdue commit, also rushed for 128 yards and three more touchdowns. The Park Cities native became the fourth quarterback in Texas high school history to surpass 14,000 passing yards in his career.

“He’s a natural,” said Parish head coach Daniel Novakov. “He’s a competitor and only continues to get better.”

The same could be said for the Parish offense, which has racked up 137 points in its first two playoff games and averages 52.7 points per game this season.

On Friday, Parish needed just two plays to take a 7-0 lead. Anderson hit Carson Darby on a 60-yard post pattern to set up Nicholas Wheeler’s 13-yard touchdown run.

The Panthers recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and took advantage of the short field when Anderson rushed for a 13-yard touchdown. Moments later, Anderson’s 45-yard touchdown toss to Darby made the score 21-0 midway through the opening quarter.

However, the Lions (9-3) rallied, cutting the deficit to 21-10 on a 4-yard touchdown run by L.J. Taylor later in the first quarter.

After leading 28-24 at intermission, Wheeler capped a 74-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

From there, the teams exchanged scores on every possession until the end of the game, although Parish never relinquished the lead. Parish’s Marcus Hanish ran for a touchdown late in the third quarter.

Anderson added two running scores in the final quarter, the first set up by a 71-yard pass to Jaylen Pile and the second following a 41-yard connection with Bryson Fields.

The two teams combined for more than 1,300 yards of total offense. Darby hauled in 10 passes for 274 yards and two scores.

Prestonwood’s Luke Glass threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns — two each to Matthew McClain and Johnathan French-Love. Takashi Shaw added a pair of rushing scores.