KILGORE SLIPS AT PARIS | Bulldogs have rare early playoff exit

PARIS – Two straight appearances in the state title game the last two years, and – let’s be honest – just about every season for the last quarter-century, have Kilgore fans used to success. A first-round playoff exit isn’t what anyone wanted and it never is.

Sometimes, though, things just don’t break your way.

Instead… they just break.

Paris quarterback Tyler Heath ran for a touchdown, passed for another, and Jaylen Dangerfield scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter to eliminate Kilgore, 28-21, from the 2026 UIL Class 4A, Division I football playoffs on a cold, windy night at Wildcat Stadium.

Much earlier than Kilgore football and its faithful fans had hoped for. 

It was the first time since 2018 that Kilgore lost in the first round (that was to Midlothian Heritage, by the way). And that’s by far the exception, not the rule: the Bulldogs, under the guidance of head coach Clint Fuller, have been nothing short of excellent during his tenure here that began in the 2021 season.

Inexperience might have played a factor on a young football team like the Bulldogs were in 2026. Graduation hit hard, but there is definitely talent there and a lot of it will return next season.

The other District 8-4A Division I playoff teams were certainly more fortunate and will advance to the area (second) round next week. Pine Tree upended Caddo Mills 42-29; Henderson spilled 7-4A champ Sulphur Springs 34-31; and Lindale defeated Kaufman, 52-22.   

In area play next week all at sites and times to be determined; Pine Tree meets Kennedale, a 44-28 winner over Dallas Carter; Henderson will play Dallas Kimball, a 49-14 winner against Benbrook; and Lindale faces Wilmer-Hutchins, a 33-28 winner over Fort Worth Eastern Hills. 

After defeating Henderson in its final regular season game to earn third place in the rough-and-tumble district standings, Kilgore scored first against Paris and led after a quick 47-yard Maddox Wright run with 11:05 remaining in the first quarter. 

Seventy-six yards over three plays and Kilgore made it look easy in taking a 7-0 lead. Ethan Reyes hit the first of three extra points.

The Wildcats answered, though, after being turned away on a blocked field goal and a Heath fumble into the Kilgore end zone.

The Kilgore defense continually rose to the occasion, turning Paris away three times inside its 10-yard-line. 

But persistence eventually paid off. The Wildcats ran 73 plays from the line of scrimmage and rolled up 514 yards of total offense. 

Heath, a three-year starter, was as good as advertised: he completed 17-of-29 passes for 255 yards. His favorite target, Jakabrian Record, added eight receptions for 162 yards, giving him 50 catches for 911 to carry into next week’s area contest against Dallas Lincoln, a 45-0 winner over Fort Worth Southwest.

Behind Maddox Wright’s 139 yards on 14 carries and Rayshaun Williams’ 63 on 13, Kilgore rushed for 211 yards.

Ragin’ Red quarterback Braddox Johnson completed 3-of-5 passes for 92 yards. Two to those passes went to Wright for 75 yards and a touchdown, and one went to T.K. White for 17. 

The Wildcats answered Wright’s early touchdown with a 1-yard Giovanni Dawson touchdown to cap a nine-play, 56-yard march with 6:54 remaining in the second quarter. James Mitchell’s first of four extra points knotted the score at 7-all. 

On its very next possession, Kilgore put together a 64-yard march of its own in 10 plays, all runs with Williams scoring with 1:53 left until halftime on a five-yard run. Williams had six carries, Wright three and Johnson one. 

The Bulldogs were helped along by a pass interference call against Paris in the end zone, which moved the football to the 3-yard line. 

Down by seven (14-7), Heath and the Wildcats responded, maneuvering 75 yards with the quarterback scoring on a 3-yard keeper with just 14 seconds remaining in the first half. The 11-play march took 1:39 off the clock.

Paris took the second-half kickoff, following a 26-yard return by Record to its 31-yard line. The ’Cats moved 69 yards in 11 plays. The go-ahead touchdown, giving the Wildcats their first lead in the contest (21-14), came on a 7-yard Heath completion to Kentrell Patterson with 7:28 left in the third quarter.

Kilgore’s T.K. White, who had a 17-yard reception to open the game, returned the Paris kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. But the play was called back on a penalty.

Following three short runs, a Johnson targeted Wright, which caught and promptly took 70 yards to knot the score for the third time (21-21). The touchdown came with 5:27 left in the third quarter. 

Paris took the ensuing kickoff and a Heath 42-yard completion to Record gave the Wildcats a first down at the Kilgore 17. Three runs and a couple of stops by Kilgore’s Zarak Hall, and the Wildcats failed to convert at the 9-yard line, once again turning the ball back to Kilgore.

The Bulldogs moved the football, but a penalty hurt and Kilgore settled for a punt to end the third quarter. Paris started its next possession at its 43 and scored what would be the game-winning touchdown on an 8-yard Dangerfield sweep. 

Kilgore ran only four plays, counting Isaac Jamaica’s punt to the Wildcats’ 14- yard line, with 7:34 left to play. The big play was a 38-yard Heath completion to Dawson on a third-and-10 call. The completion followed a 10-yard penalty on the Wildcats, which put the football at the Paris 9.

As it turned out, Kilgore wouldn’t see the ball again.

The 12-play march was all runs except for the one pass, eating up not only the two-minute time-out, but Kilgore’s remaining time-outs in the second half as the Wildcats ended the contest deep in Bulldogs’ territory.