Hornets fall after rough first quarter
Sep. 3—Paradise came to Muenster on Friday, but it didn't feel like paradise after the first quarter.
The Muenster football team fell 34-13 to Paradise after a falling behind three scores in the first quarter.
Paradise (2-0) led 21-0 after the first and cruised the rest of the night, notching its second win against a Cooke County 2A school this season.
Muenster (0-2) played more even with the Panthers after the first, but the Hornets couldn't catch up en route to its first 0-2 start since 2008.
After playing two 3A schools, Muenster coach Brady Carney said he is wondering if he made the schedule too tough, but the Hornets still must play better. He said there is more to it than the size of the schools.
"I'm sure it's got something to do with it," Carney said. "But like I told them the other day, it's still 11 on 11. They may have 500 in high school, but they can only put 11 on the field and still play 100 yards and between the hashes. I guess it's tougher that they are bigger, but still, it's 11 on 11."
Paradise took the lead on the first play of its second drive. Will Johnson broke free for a 59-yard touchdown run. Muenster fumbled on the next play from scrimmage, and Paradise doubled its lead two plays later when Austin Iglesias completed a 32-yard pass to Johnson for another score.
Later in the quarter, Muenster pinned Paradise at its own 1-yard line after Connor Walterscheid made a nice play on a punt by Seth Stoffels. Paradise negated the it when Iglesias broke free for a 99-yard touchdown run, hurdling a defender in the process.
The 21-0 Paradise lead held until halftime with neither team scoring in the second quarter.
Carney said the Hornets weren't ready to play.
"I just don't know if we're team-oriented enough," Carney said. "I'm worried we have too many individuals and not enough of the team concept, and I try to do what I can to get that across to them... Maybe that goes back to me not having them ready to play. So, that's on me."
Both teams scored 13 points in a more even second half. Braden Berkley put the Hornets on the board with a 1-yard run, though the Panthers blocked the extra point. Casen Carney scored the other Hornet touchdown on a 5-yard run.
Carney said going forward, the Hornets need to be more physical up front.
"I've told them time and time again, to me, it starts up front on the O-line and D-line," Carney said. "I thought we got some movement late, but maybe that's because they're up three scores. Just gotta be better up front on both sides. Gotta give the quarterbacks a little more protection."
