LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
PARIS – As has been the case throughout the 2024 football season, the Paris Tigers could not get out of their own way on Friday, Oct. 18 at Tiger Stadium.
For the fourth time this season, the Tigers lost by less than a touchdown. The latest came courtesy of the Robinson Maroons who scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit and grab a 44-40 win on Paris’ Senior Night. Paris falls to 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the Little Illini Conference while Robinson improves to 4-4 (4-2 in the LIC).
Paris started the scoring frenzy on their first possession as Mason Byrnes tallied the first of his four touchdowns of the evening from 22 yards out to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. Byrnes accounted for 40 of his team’s 64 yards on that opening drive.
What took place over the next quarter and a half is rarely seen in football. Robinson scored the next 23 straight points to grab a 23-7 lead midway through the second period. Paris then scored three consecutive touchdowns of their own to take the lead back in the third stanza. Byrnes scored on runs of three yards and four yards to give the Tigers a 27-23 lead with 8:13 left in the third.
Both defenses seemed to take the middle two quarters off as the two teams combined for 57 points in those 24 minutes of play. Paris scored their final two touchdowns in the third as Dawson Rogers caught a nine-yard pass from his brother Drew Rogers to give the Tigers a 34-30 lead with 4:02 left in the third. Carter Crippes scored what seemed to be the back-breaking touchdown with less than three minutes remaining in the quarter when he returned a punt 64 yards for the score. That would be the last time the Tigers would find the end zone, but they did hold a 40-30 lead with just over 14 minutes in the contest.
The fourth quarter was all Robinson as they scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground to secure the come-from-behind win.
Byrnes carried the load for the Tigers as he racked up 182 yards on 27 carries and three touchdowns. Rigdon added 18 yards on three carries with Crippes adding 11 yards on a pair of touches. Andre Calhoun carried once for two yards with Madox Hutchings picking up a yard on his only carry. Drew Rogers carried five times for -9 yards and Dawson Rogers lost six yards on his only tote.
Rogers completed 11 of 20 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown, but was also guilty of three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Karic Vitale caught three passes for 50 yards while Crippes also caught three balls for 37 yards. Rogers had three grabs for 31 yards and a score and Byrnes hauled in a pair of passes for 26 yards. Byrnes accounted for 208 of the Tigers’ 282 yards of total offense.
The game marked the final time playing in front of a home crowd for nine seniors. Byrnes, Drew Rogers, Maxn Johnson, Koen Brinkerhoff, Cooper Keys, Evan Ramsey, Taylon Deare, Richard Black and Quinn Williams will wrap up their high school careers on Friday night as the Tigers travel to Casey to battle the 7-1 Warriors. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.