Parkview defeated Marietta 50-28 in a rematch of last year’s clash in the Class 7A state semifinals. In their previous meeting, Marietta defeated Parkview 42-31 and went to win the 2019 state championship. Last year was the Panthers’ first semifinal appearance since the 2004 season, and they were able to avenge that loss that ultimately ended their hopes of making it to state title game.
In the victory, the Panthers lit up the scoreboard with 50 points and the offense excelled in the pass and run game. Led by their sophomore Quarterback Colin Houck’s 210 yards passing, five touchdowns and no interception performance. Head Coach Eric Godfree complimented his underclassmen quarterback on the exceptional performance he displayed against the reigning state champs.
“Yeah, he was great,” said Godfree. “Colin is only a sophomore and he’s going to be a real special quarterback that’s for sure.”
This time around, the result favored the Panthers and they were able control the game with their highest offensive output of the season. Coach Godfree explained how this year’s game was different compared to last year’s matchup and how they were able to come out victorious.
“They graduated a lot of players and we graduated a lot of players too, but we had some experience coming back this season and those guys were motivated and ready to play this team after last year’s matchup in the final four, and yeah, we got a little redemption.” said Godfree.
Parkview’s senior running backs Cody Brown and Tyler Curtis both rushed for over 100 yards in this game and accounted for a total of 233 yards between the two, while Houck and the passing attack racked up five scores through the air.
“Yeah the running and passing game complimented each other very well for us and at first Marietta’s defense stacked the box, so Colin did a great job of passing the ball and throwing strikes to our receivers and because of that our running backs did a great job each rushing over 100 yards.” said Godfree.
Parkview seemed to execute their game plan the way they wanted to giving them the opportunity to get avenge last year’s playoff loss and building off the success already experienced this season.
“The plan at first was to run the ball, but credit to Marietta’s defense they gave us different looks and did some man coverage and stacking the box, so that way our players were able adjust executing passing and running the ball very well to give us the chance to succeed.”
Now that Parkview has beaten the team that kicked them out of the playoffs last year they will look to shift their focus on the 1-0 Tucker Tigers this Friday evening at 7:30pm. The Panthers’ victory resulted in a No. 10 ranking in the latest AJC top 10 and they are now 3-1 as they continue striving towards the goal of capturing their first state title in 18 season.
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