The Parkway Panthers won a 42-41 thriller against the Loyola College Prep Flyers Friday night at Messmer Stadium.
Braxxton Black scored on a 2-yard run and Rod Johnson caught a two-point conversion pass from Bryston McCoy to give Parkway the lead with 41 seconds left in the game.
Loyola, which has one of the area’s best quarterbacks in Bryce Restovich, quickly moved to the Parkway 25 with 18 seconds left.
The Panthers got a strong rush on the next play and Loyola was penalized back to the 42 for intentional grounding.
Restovich then launched a pass about 50 yards into the end zone. Damian Decaldecal intercepted the pass in one-on-one coverage.
“He didn’t let the receiver get behind him,” Parkway Head Coach Coy Brotherton said. “He was behind the receiver and they threw one in the end zone and kind of like going up for a rebound he boxed him out for the rebound and got it.”
It was the culmination of an outstanding game by Decaldecal, who scored three touchdowns, two receiving and one rushing.
Parkway improved to 1-1 after opening the season with a 55-15 loss to Dunham. Loyola, which came into the game ranked No. 8 in the LSWA Class 3A poll, fell to 1-1.
“Yeah, that was huge,” Brotherton said of the way his team bounced back from the loss. “We needed that big time, man. And I know we bounced back after a loss, and we bounced back after trailing in that game.
“That’s what our team needed and what our kids needed and and I think we can build on that.”
Parkway went for two after all six of its touchdowns and made three. Loyola made its first five extra-point kicks but missed its final one.
The Panthers scored a big touchdown on a 5-yard pass from McCoy to Decaldecal with just 9 seconds left in the first half. That and a conversion enabled Parkway to take a 28-14 lead into the locker room.
But the Flyers scored quickly on a 33-yard pass from Restovich to reigning Class 4A 100-meter champion Ty Walsworth with less than a minute gone in the third quarter.
After Loyola tied it on another TD pass late in the quarter, Dallas Loche returned the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. The conversion failed and the Panthers led 34-28.
The Flyers answered with another TD pass by Restovich and a successful PAT with 35 seconds left in the third.
That set up the fireworks in the fourth quarter.
Parkway started its final touchdown drive at its 15. The Panthers moved to midfield in five plays. Decaldecal then ran 19 yards to the 31.
On third-and-9 from the 29, McCoy found Gary Burney for 12 yards to the 17. Black carried twice to the 2 and scored on the next play.
Parkway’s first three touchdowns in the first half came on a 34-yard run by Black, a 6-yard run by Decaldecal and a 45-yard pass from McCoy to Decaldecal.
Brotherton said LSU commit Burney got a lot of attention from the Flyers secondary throughout the game. That enabled Decaldecal, Gabe Gray and Tristan Sedberry the opportunity to make some plays at receiver.
“They stepped up big,” Brotherton said. “And Bryston did a good job of getting them the ball and we kind of felt like we could run the ball a little bit just because of the size advantage we had on Loyola and we did a good job of that, too.
“Just hats off to Loyola for making tackles and making it hard and difficult for us to drive the field. They didn’t give up any big plays.”
Parkway hosts Red River Friday. The Bulldogs (0-2) lost to St. Mary’s 26-20!Friday night.