Liberty-Eylau’s Defense Stiffens in Second Half to Beat Paris, 52-38, in District Showdown

TEXARKANA -- Friday night's matchup between No. 10 Liberty-Eylau and Paris certainly lived up to the hype.

Ke'Mon Freeman ran for three touchdowns and Liberty-Eylau held Paris to seven points in the second half as the Leopards ran away from the Wildcats, 52-38, in their crucial District 7-4A Division I meeting.

After the two teams went into halftime of their shootout tied at 31-31, Liberty-Eylau (5-1, 1-0) didn't let Paris (4-2, 0-1) score again after Jalon Pipkins' 41-yard touchdown catch tied the game at 38-38 with 3:04 left in the third quarter.

Lamont Byrd scored his second rushing touchdown of the game and Freeman posted his third late in the fourth quarter to put the punctuation mark on the Leopards' big win, their fifth straight.

Freeman finished with 166 yards on the ground on 23 carries, while completing 10 of 21 passes for 157 yards.

Jalon Pipkins was a highlight reel for Paris, hauling in five catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns, one from 33 yards 2:29 into the game and the other from 41 yards.

Wildcats quarterback Quez Allen ran 28 times for 147 yards and a 69-yard touchdown run, while completing 13 of 24 passes for 190 yards and two scores.

The two teams combined for 35 points in the first quarter, which ended with Liberty-Eylau up 21-14. Both teams returned kickoffs for touchdowns in the quarter -- the first by the Leopards' Denzel Green for 84 yards and the second by Paris' Ja'kerion brown for 75 yards.