Prestonwood overcomes key injury to beat Argyle Christian

Prestonwood Christian lost its star quarterback early in the second quarter but still found a way to defeat Argyle Liberty Christian, 31-7, Friday night at Lions Stadium.

Senior Parker Ash was knocked out of the game with 8 minutes left in the second quarter. After running 12 yards for a first down, Ash was hit late out of bounds by Christian Burks. The senior was treated by the Prestonwood medical staff on the bench, before being carted off to the locker room several minutes later.

With Ash out, Prestonwood leaned more on the running game, with positive results.

"Everyone had to do their part when he went down," said junior J.P. Coward, who carried the ball 32 times for 169 yards. "It was a hard fought game and the offensive line made it happen. I just had to keep my feet moving and good things happened."

Prestonwood (5-1, 3-0) set the tone early in the game when Coward scored from 48 yards out on the opening drive of the game. After forcing Argyle (3-3, 1-2) to turn the ball over on downs, the Lions' offense was right back at it. On second-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Ash was flushed from the pocket, but found a wide open Coward in the end zone and flipped him a shuttle pass just before crossing the line of scrimmage for a 14-0 lead.

When Ash was knocked from the game two drives later, senior safety Claude Person entered the game at quarterback and showed he was up to the task of leading the Lions. On his fourth snap, Person found senior receiver Brandon Henry open deep down the right sideline for a 45-yard touchdown pass. The extra point gave the Lions a 21-0 lead.

Prestonwood coach Chris Cunningham said he was proud of the way Person played under tough conditions.

"I think the fact we had 14 points when Parker went out and scored 17 points with Claude at quarterback says a lot," he said. "It was a total team effort with everyone stepping up. I don't think Claude took any snaps at quarterback this week in practice, so I think he did a great job coming in and doing what he did."

Person led two more scoring drives in the second half. On the first drive, Person found Henry down the right sideline again for a 20-yard gain. With a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, Prestonwood ran Coward up the middle three times for no gain before senior Zach Elsenbroek kicked an 18-yard field goal for a 24-0 lead.

Less than two minutes into the fourth quarter Person struck again, this time finding 6-9 senior receiver Zach Peters in the corner of the end zone. Peters used his height advantage and outjumped the Warriors' defense for the easy score.

While the offense was rolling along, the Lions' defense was arguably more impressive. It allowed only 71 yards in the first half as the offense built a lead, and didn't allow a pass completion until the fourth quarter.

"I think our success had a lot to do with our front pressure and our guys in coverage," Cunningham said. "They were definitely challenged after what happened last week. I think it hurt their pride a little bit to give up that many points (59 points and 716 yards in a win against Trinity Christian-Addison), but I think they stepped up tonight. It would have made Coach (Wade) McLain very, very proud."

Argyle scored with 7:50 left in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get any closer. The Warriors ended up with 181 yards of total offense, with 93 coming on the ground and 88 through the air.

Person finished the game by completing 7-of-15 passes for 105 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for 12 yards on seven carries.

"Claude is a little more of a running quarterback, so when he came in we went to a mix of our regular offense, with a little more emphasis on our run game and a little bit of our wildcat," Cunningham said. "We were trying to mix it up a little bit and play to his strengths."

The top receiver for Prestonwood was Henry, who finished with five catches for 115 yards and a score. Peters also had five catches, totaling 59 yards and one touchdown.

Prior to being injured, Ash competed 7-of-10 passes for 90 yards and one touchdown. After the game, Cunningham didn't have any update on Ash's condition, saying only that the Prestonwood staff didn't feel comfortable bringing him back in the game.

The Lions return to action Oct. 14 against Fort Worth Nolan in a rematch of the 2010 TAPPS Division I State Championship game, won by Prestonwood. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Lions Stadium.

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