PLANO:  The Varsity Football team celebrated its senior night along with the Cardinal Band, Belles, Cheerleaders, Cross Country runners, Spirit Boys, and Student Trainers on Friday, as the families of 53 seniors helped honor their students.  The Cardinals hosted Parish Episcopal in a rematch of last year's state title game, where the Panthers won 42-14.  JPII and Parish put on a show for all those in attendance, trading haymakers throughout the contest, which ended in a 58-51 OT victory for the visitors.  

Both teams were tied at 14 by the end of the first quarter, as senior RB Grant Robinson added two rushing touchdowns, including an 80 yard scamper.  Robinson would finish with 271 rushing yards on 40 carries, good for 2nd on the JPII all-time single game rushing record list behind only Donavyn Lester who logged 283 rushing yards against Brook Hill in 2018.  Junior QB Chase Washington (17-27, 123 yds, 1 TD) connected with junior WR Tyler Bailey (2 rec, 16 yds) in the back of the endzone on a 15-yard strike to take the lead halfway through the second quarter, and the Cardinal defense chipped in with a touchdown of their own as senior DL Sterling Martin stripped Parish QB and SMU commit Preston Stone in the endzone and sophomore DL Kennedy McDowell was there to fall on it for six.  The Panthers responded with a score of their own with less than two minutes remaining in the half, as JPII took a 28-21 lead into the break.  

Parish put together a strong scoring drive to open the third quarter to tie things up, but JPII clawed back with a 10-play drive capped off by a 36-yard Jackson Mata field goal to regain the lead at 31-28.   Another quick scoring drive from the Panthers saw the visitors take a 35-31 lead, and both teams traded punts before JPII put together perhaps its best series of the game, a 13-play grind of a drive, punctuated by a two yard score from Robinson, his third of the night.  The Cardinals stunned the Panthers on their next possession, as junior DB Terrance Brooks intercepted Stone and took it to the house for a pick-six to give the home team a 45-35 lead with eight minutes remaining in the ball game.  JPII added to its lead on Robinson's fourth rushing score of the night, this time a 21-yard straight shot to the endzone, going ahead 51-35 with less than three minutes remaining.  

Credit to the Panthers who responded with two touchdowns in the final three minutes to force overtime.  Parish scored on its first play of overtime to go up 58-51, and the Cards failed to punch it in during their OT possession.  

In all, it was a much better showing from the Cardinals than their previous two games with the Panthers, and proved they can play with anyone.  Senior captain and WR Myles Parker led JPII in receiving, logging 8 catches for 49 yards, while sophomore WR Kyle Parker added three key catches of his own for 34 yards.  Once again the story of the game was the Cardinals' rushing attack behind the offensive line of Nathan Brown, Sky Moon, Zeke Skinner, Blake Johnson, and Caden Kitler, who were named offensive players of the game by the coaching staff, along with Robinson's spectacular performance.  

With the loss, JPII now sits at 2-2 overall, and 2-1 in TAPPS district play.  The Cardinals will head out west on Friday to face All Saints Episcopal in Ft. Worth at 7pm.