Comanches Make Every Play Count

Canyon’s Darryl Parker touched the ball only eight times Thursday against winless Orange, but the senior running back made his chances count, running for 122 yards and scoring three touchdowns in leading the Comanches to a 38-0 Century League victory.

The 38 points were the most Canyon (4-5, 1-3) has scored this year. The shutout, its first of the season, was preserved by Coach Brent McKee’s decision to insert his defensive starters after Orange drove to the Canyon four-yard line with less than two minutes to play.

“I’m not about to put my offense in to run up the score when we’re up that much,” McKee said. “But we’d played too hard to not try to keep the shutout.”

Orange (0-9, 0-4) was stopped on four running plays. It was the fifth time this season the Panthers have been shut out.

Canyon was efficient, needing only a few plays on most scoring drives. Its first score came after Parker raced around right end for a 53-yard touchdown with two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Orange’s Toby Law returned the kickoff 96 yards for an apparent score, but an illegal block negated his run.

Canyon needed only seven plays to score on its next two drives. First the Comanches went 60 yards in four plays, capped by Joe Medina’s 20-yard run. Then they drove 56 yards in three plays, capped by Parker’s 41-yard score.

Parker’s last touchdown, a 20-yard run, came in the third quarter.