The Parkway Panthers’ outstanding season came to an end Friday night.
The No. 6 Panthers came up just short, falling to No. 14 seed Ouachita Parish 28-22 in the quarterfinals of the non-select Division I playoffs at Bobby Marlow Field at Preston Crownover Stadium.
Parkway finished one of the best seasons in school history 11-2. Ouachita Parish (9-4) will visit District 2-5A foe Neville in the semifinals.
Ruston also made the semifinals, giving 2-5A three of the four teams.
Ouachita Parish took a 28-16 lead on a 26-yard run by Wydell Clark Jr. with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
That capped an 80-yard drive that started after it looked like the Panthers were about to take the lead. The threat ended when the Lions recovered a fumble in the end zone.
Parkway turned the ball over on downs but got it back with a fumble recovery.
Kaleb Williams’ 7-yard touchdown pass to Gary Burney cut the lead to six with 4:39 left in the game. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
Ouachita Parish then recovered an onside kick at its 42. The Lions picked up four first downs.
The last one came on a roughing the kicker penalty on a failed 27-yard field goal attempt with 26 seconds left. Ouachita Parish ran out the clock with the ball at the Parkway 4.
The game couldn’t have started any better for Parkway. The Panthers took the opening kickoff and drove 78 yards for a touchdown.
Williams hit Burney with a 44-yard pass to the Lions 32.
A pass to Antonio Gladney moved the ball to the 8 and Braxxton Black scored from there. Black scored the two-point conversion and the Panthers led 8-0 less than two minutes into the game.
Ouachita Parish then drove to a first-and-goal at the Parkway 3. But quarterback Montrell Conner fumbled at the 1. The ball went into the end zone and the Panthers recovered it.
It wouldn’t be the last turnover in the game.
Parkway took over at the 10 because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play.
One play later, the Lions returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown.
That was the first in a sequence of three straight Ouachita Parish touchdowns.
Conner was effective running and hit some key passes.
He capped a 59-yard drive with a 1-yard sneak and the Lions led 14-8 at the end of the first quarter.
After getting a sack and forcing Parkway to punt for the second straight time, Ouachita Parish drove 70 yards in 14 plays for a touchdown.
Conner threw a screen pass for a first down on third-and-7 from the Lions 49. Eight straight runs, including several by Conner, moved the ball to the 4.
Marcario Dade Jr. took it in from there and the Lions led 21-8 with 2:52 left in the half.
Parkway was able to get the ball at the Ouachita Parish 40 after the Lions were penalized for a hit on a fair catch on the kickoff.
The Panthers converted a fourth-and-6 at the 22. On second-and-goal from the 5, the Lions forced a fumble and tried to return it.
But Parkway forced a fumble on the return. Draidyn Davis picked it up at the 14 and scored with 10 seconds left in the half.
A two-point conversion run by Black cut the deficit to 21-16.
Both teams played well defensively in the second half.
The Lions held the Panthers to their lowest point total of the season, about 26 under their average.