With an extra week of preparation, Bishop Lynch begins their trek through a loaded district Friday when the Friars (3-3, 0-0) celebrate homecoming against the Parish Episcopal Panthers (5-1, 1-0). The teams will kickoff from Roffino Stadium tomorrow at 7:00 pm. The Friars will try to stop a two-game slide while putting a halt to the Panthers' three-game win streak.
Parish Overview
The Panthers have had no shortage of hype this season, and for good reason. Other than a surprising 24-17 loss at Fort Worth All Saints back on Sept. 20, Parish has pretty much dominated the rest of its opponents since opening the season with a 33-27 overtime win over Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill.
Since the loss to All Saints, the Panthers have outscored opponents 135-27 during their current win streak, and average score of 45-9. The streak includes wins over Trinity Christian-Addison (41-3), Fort Worth Christian (57-12), and most recently a 37-14 blowout of Bishop Dunne to open district play.
To put it briefly, the Panthers are clicking on all cylinders heading into tomorrow's matchup.
Parish Offense
The Panthers are averaging 39 points and 410 yards per game (250 passing, 160 rushing) on offense. Obviously, it all starts with junior quarterback Preston Stone, a third-year starter with a massive collection of Division I offers. Stone has completed 71 percent of his passes this year (118-of-167) for 1,492 yards and 17 touchdowns to just three interceptions. For good measure, he's added 294 yards and three yards on the ground.
Cauren Lynch leads the Panther ground game with 476 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 9.2 yards per carry. Stone loves to spread the ball around, connecting with five receivers who have more than 10 receptions, led by Christian Benson with 34 receptions, 376 yards and four TDs. Evan Greene (29-421-6), Kaleb Culp (14-235-1), Jai Moore (14-146-2), and Gabriel Walls (11-131-2) all get in on the action. A total of seven players have caught at least one TD pass for the Panthers in 2019.
Reid Boisture provides solid kicking for Parish, converting on 29-of-30 extra points and 3-of-5 field goals, with a long of 35 yards. He's also booted 13 touchbacks on kickoffs.
Parish Defense
What was once a glaring weakness is now one of its biggest strengths with a defense surrendering just 13 points and 223 yards per game. The Panthers have one shutout (49-0 vs Tyler Grace Community) to their credit. Parish is giving up just 82 rushing yards per outing and 141 through the air, while sporting a turnover differential of plus-7.
Andrew Merrick is the Panthers' leading tackler with 85, followed by Keagon Addison (52), and Josue Munoz (49), who also has a team best 13 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. The Panther defense has totaled 20 sacks in six games with Noah Richards adding four, and Blake Burris totaling 3.5 in addition to Munoz' total. Colby Blatnik has the team's lone defensive touchdown, a 62-yard fumble return.
In all, the defense's five interceptions have been snagged by five different players, as have the five fumbles recovered by the Panthers. Culp is credited with the Panthers' only blocked kick of the season.
Looking Ahead
The Friars will close out their home schedule next Friday against Bishop Dunne. The last two games will be in Plano on Nov. 1 against Prestonwood Christian, and Nov. 8 against John Paul II.
