HOUSTON – It was a dominant first half on both sides of the ball for Paetow, putting up points up on the board early with an 82-yard catch and run that Paetow senior receiver Kole Wilson who flexed his speed and took the ball in for a house call in the second quarter putting Paetow up 14-0.
Paetow
The defensive line was wreaking havoc and proving too much to handle for Hightower. Making tackles for losses and sacks on the quarterback, it seemed like Hightower’s offensive line was on roller skates all night.
Some of the offensive standouts for Paetow showed up in this game like wide receivers Kole Wilsons jets, junior wide receivers Derrick Johnson, who showed some special skills as a return man and weapon on offense, and junior running back Damyrion Phillips. Philips had a good night showing flashes of speed and vision hitting the open holes his offensive line gave him.
The game ball could easily go to the Paetow offensive line who was phenomenal on the night, keeping quarterback CJ Dumas jerseys clean (even though the field was turf),and opening up big holes for nice runs for playmakers to capitalize on. The defensive line could easily be the biggest players of the game as well, they were making plays all night as well.
Linebacker Daymion Sanford , a junior 6’2 outside linebacker, had multiple sacks on the night and is easily our Defensive Payer of the Game. Sanford showed his ability off the edge and into the backfield so much that Hightower was going to have to start charging him taxes for living in their backfield.
Hightower
Hightower just could not get things going offensively or defensively for that matter, despite having star wide receiver Caleb Douglas make a few big plays on the night.
The catch radius for Douglas is elite,– his long arms, height, paired with his vertical ability —make him a matchup nightmare for many, maybe one of the reasons why the USC offered and he would later accept after de-committing from the Baylor bears.
In the 4th quarter, the score was 41-7 and Paetow was still drawing up plays, putting up points on the board. Hightower seems like a young team offensively and has a few young players who could turn things around for the program in the future.
Players like sophomore quarterback Kedron Penson Jr, sophomore Zion Kearney who is 6’3 with blazing speed and a large lengthy athletic frame.
The Conclusion
The stats tell the story in this one, Paetow made a statement in this game that they could hang with tougher competition. The unofficial stats of the game have Paetow picking up 501 total yards on offense, 272 of them passing, and 9 sacks on defense on the night, –Hightower just 209 total yards of offense.
Paetow looks like they will get to play Manvel for a District championship and if they beat them, get this—there could be a three-way tie for the district championship.
As for Hightower, they fall to 6-2 on the season and 5-1 in district play, and Paetow, their season remains a perfect one at 8-0 as they join a select few unbeaten from around the state.
Next week
Paetow will look to keep their perfect season in tack against a tough Manvel team at 5-2, and Hightower will look to rebound next week, as they face Milby at home.
