No. 1 Parkview Baptist tops Catholic in thriller

The best Parkview Baptist football coach Kenny Guillot could do in the moments after his team’s pulsating 39-34 victory Thursday over Catholic High was continually shake his head.

It wasn’t so much disbelief after watching his top-ranked Class 3A club remain perfect at 4-0 on the season, but it was the manner in which Guillot witnessed his Eagles score on their final drive of the game to turn away a determined group of Bears at Olympia Stadium.

“My hat’s off to Catholic High,” Guillot said. “They’re a great football team. It’s unbelievable. They’ve got a good football team, but I couldn’t get a bead on how the game was going to go. I thought it would be a tight game, but nothing like this for sure.”

The two teams, who combined for 767 yards of offense, combined to score on five consecutive possessions, swapped leads six times, and were tied on three other ocassions.

Parkview scored on all three of its second-half series — all of which were 80 yards in distance — with running back Erik Martinez providing the difference on a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:10 remaining.

That was the 10th and final play of the drive, but there were two turning points that enabled the Eagles to keep their hopes alive after trailing 34-33 with 3:10 showing.

The first pivotal moment came when Catholic (2-2) was whistled for pass interference on fourth-and-10, allowing Parkview to hold onto the ball. The Eagles later found themselves staring at a daunting fourth-and-20 from the Bears 30 only to have wide receiver Tom Wing to emerge amid two defenders for a highlight-reel 27-yard catch from quarterback Brennan Bozeman to the 3.

Bozeman and Wing connected three times on the game-winning drive for 66 yards, the final spectacular grab setting up Martinez’s heroics.

“We had to have it,” Guillot said. “You get down to second-and-20 and third-and-20, and you’ve got to go for it. We kept trying to get them and get them and finally get we got one. Wing made a great catch and it was a great throw. It was a war.”

Catholic had one final opportunity and reached Parkview’s 38 on Khalil Thomas’ 15-yard gain on a draw, but on second down, quarterback Nick Coomes’ memorable evening ended abruptly when defensive back Tee Sparrow came up with an interception at Parkview’s 8-yard line with 13 seconds left.

“I’m just so thrilled at how we played, and I know Kenny’s proud of his team,” Catholic coach Dale Weiner said. “One of the things I wanted after a heartbreaking loss to a very good Central team, I wanted us to show up and we showed up big time. They’re the No. 1 ranked team in Triple A and they’re an outstanding team and Catholic High represented itself very well.”

Parkview held a 341-335 edge in total yards with Bozeman leading the way.

Bozeman accounted for 303 yards of total offense and four touchdowns, including three passing. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 165 yards and carried 15 times for 138 yards and another score.

Coomes equalled a school record with five touchdown passes, also held by Major Applewhite, completing 7 of 19 passes for 126 yards. David Losavio (2-27) had two of his TD catches. Thomas paced the ground game with 136 yards on 12 carries.

Parkview closed the exciting first half with its third scoring drive in excess of 70 yards with Bozeman and Austin Suits perfectly executing a 12-yard shovel pass with 55 seconds left before halftime.

Following timeouts by both teams Hodgeson, after an offside penalty against Catholic, easily added the two-point conversion for a 21-all deadlock.

Within a 30-second span late in the second quarter Catholic wiped out a six-point deficit and garnered its first lead with 5:13 still showing.

Catholic answered PBS’ second score with its longest drive of the half, fueled by some inspired running from Guice and Thomas that left the Bears with a first-and-goal at 4-yard line.

CHS then overcame first-and-goal from PBS’ 16 after two straight penalties for a 14-13 lead on an 8-yard TD pass from Coomes to tight end Christian Brown.

The Bears opted for an onsides kick following a roughing the kicker penalty on Jack Gonsoulin’s extra point which Matthew Venable recovered on the Eagles’ 25.

Two plays later, Coomes picked up his third TD pass of the half with a perfect 25-yard strike over the shoulder of wide receiver Losavio, who managed to get his left down inbounds to cap the Bears’ dramatic turn of events for a 21-13 lead.

“I thought it would be lower scoring,” Weiner said. “There were some big plays. It’s just a credit to these kids that came out and laid it on the line on both sides.”