Paradise’s recovery season rolls on with firstround rout
PARADISE, Butte County — They waited 372 days for this.
They sweat, toiled and bled for this.
And, when the Paradise High football team finally got its chance to play in the postseason Friday night, a roster full of displaced players seized every last second of the significant moment.
A little more than a year after the most destructive fire in California history destroyed their town and their anticipated playoff run, the Bobcats returned to the postseason with a 560 smashing of Live
Oak (Sutter County).
The offense racked up more than 400 rushing yards, and the defense forced two turnovers in its sixth shutout of the season to grab a CIF Northern Section Division 3 firstround win. The victory sets up next weekend’s section semifinal showdown with topseeded West ValleyCottonwood (Shasta County) and a chance to continue Paradise’s incred
ible story.
“Great start. Great second quarter. Maybe we got a little complacent there, and they fired us up, didn’t they?” Paradise head coach Rick Prinz said. “It’s on now. We’re allin right now. We’ve got to be ready. Next week is the big one.”
After the Camp Fire thundered through the ridge town three hours north of San Francisco on Nov. 8, 2018 — killing 85 and leveling an estimated 19,000 structures — the Bobcats’ football team was so scattered throughout Sacramento Valley that the program had no choice but to cancel a playoff game scheduled for the following day.
Even after going 100 and rolling opponents by a combined 46973 score, this year’s postseason prospects were again in question. With uncertainty circling as to whether it would be able to field a team, Paradise had to scramble to create an independent schedule this season.
Having been awarded zero league points in the section’s complicated playoffselection system, the Bobcats were the No. 9ranked team in an eightteam bracket until the final week of the regular season. Sutter’s 337 victory over Orland in the finale bumped Paradise into the eighth spot by 0.78 points.
Once the eight teams were solidified, the section reseeded the teams without the league bonuses, rightly granting the Bobcats a home playoff game at the town’s Om Wraith Field.
And, oh, how they made use of their familiar patchwork grass field and the swells of emotion that still permeate the stadium and its beleaguered fans.
Sophomore running back Tyler Harrison ran 11 times for 281 yards, and senior running back Lukas Hartley added nine carries for 117 yards and two scores for a Paradise offense that didn’t attempt a single pass and scored on each of its seven possessions.
With Ashton Wagner flying all over the field, the Bobcats’ defense was never really threatened. Dylan Blood had an interception, and Stetson Morgan forced a fumble that Justin Boles recovered in a game that started with raw emotions.
A crowd of about 3,000 squeezed into the 2,500capacity stadium to cheer their team as the players marched through the stone bleachers to enter the field before the game. Some fans closed their eyes and others cried as students sang the national anthem, likely thinking about all the town has lost and what the football team is doing in an attempt to bring healing to the community.
Even a lopsided score and a thirdquarter scuffle that resulted in two ejections and a long delay as officials sorted out the aftermath couldn’t dampen the spirits on this night.
“Let’s go end this beautiful story that we’ve started,” Paradise assistant coach Andy Hopper said. “Just think, we started this at a freaking airport, on a field with rocks and holes. Nobody thought that we could do anything, but look what these guys have done because of hard work.
“It motivates me to do anything the rest of my life. You guys have motivated everybody in this town, and we’re going to finish it right.”