Sequels rarely live up to the standards of the original, and encore performances generally lack the same flare that defined the first production.
Those are clichés that could have applied to Parklane’s 2025 football team. After all, the squad had lost a handful of key contributors from its state-title team of a year ago, and the Pioneers would be the ‘hunted’ instead of the ‘hunter’ in the MAIS.
But roughly a year later, it’s safe to say that the sequel to Parklane’s championship blockbuster has been just as memorable and hard-earned, because Ron Rushing’s program brought things full circle by lifting a second straight state-title trophy at Jackson Academy on Friday.
“I thought our coaches had a great game plan, but this is really all about the kids,” Rushing said of the victory. “We challenged them all week about putting the perfect game together, and they showed out.”
‘Showing out’ meant that the top-seeded Pioneers (11-1) cruised to a 42-0 win over third-seeded Heritage Academy (10-3), as they controlled the game in all three phases and forced a running clock in the second half.
And to secure the back-to-back title, Parklane’s defense set the tone early before the offense found a clinical rhythm as the game wore on.
A combo-sack by seniors Paw Forrest and Telvin Jefferson was followed by an explosive pass by the visitors, but per the theme of the night, a crucial turnover swung momentum in the Pioneers’ favor. A forced fumble in the red zone kept points off the board, and Rushing’s offense got to work from there.
The head coach revealed that his staff actually scripted the first 30 plays of the game to ensure that Parklane’s plethora of weapons would get touches, and the results yielded plenty of highlight-reel plays.
Elusive junior receiver Davis Carruth caught a slant from senior quarterback Braxton Hughes for a first down, and senior Brennan Ellison then took a screen all the way to the Patriots’ 17-yard line as he weaved his way past multiple defenders.
In scoring position, Rushing & Co. opted to get tricky, running a reverse to Carruth that saw him stiff-arm a defender before finding the end zone.
“We knew we had to perform better on a bigger stage, and so we finally scored on our first drive,” Hughes said. “We just knew we couldn’t come out slow if we wanted to put up big points.”
Facing a 6-0 deficit, Heritage again manufactured a promising drive thanks to an explosive play. But in similar fashion to the team’s first possession, a turnover kept points off the board, with junior safety Eli Chandler diagnosing a play and rising above a receiver for an interception at his own one-yard line.
“It was an empty set, and all week we had said that if they showed us that, then we’d drop into our ‘blue’ or deep quarters coverage,” Chandler said of the INT. “So I saw what looked like four verticals coming right at me, and our D-line got good pressure, so he had to just throw it up to me.”
The two sides traded a pair of punts as the game entered the second quarter, but the ensuing frame saw the Pioneers truly take control.
A strong pass breakup by junior Kaydon Jackson forced a Patriot punt, and Parklane’s offense needed just one play to extend its lead to double-figures. Hughes stepped up into the pocket and found a streaking Kardez “Dooley” Copeland over the middle, and the speedy receiver raced to the end zone from over 80 yards out.
“We went to the sideline and had seen on the TV that we could pick on a defender if we attacked him,” Hughes said. “We thought it’d be wide open if Dooley went right at him, and sure enough it was.”
The game snowballed from there, as Chandler again made an impact when he shot in to break up a pass with a crushing hit that forced another punt.
“Our defensive coordinator [Robert Young] really pounds on us about being physical and never giving up,” Chandler said. “And our defensive line with guys like Telvin Jefferson, Paw Forrest, Wick Lindsey and Hayden McCurley kept getting pressure, and without that we wouldn’t have been able to get the interceptions and fumbles we did tonight.”
Looking to keep the offense’s foot on the gas, Hughes found Ellison for a first down over the middle before Carruth took an intermediate throw and turned it into a much larger gain with his open-field abilities.
Senior tailback Tanner Kyzar joined the fray by muscling his way to the one-yard line, and he proceeded to punch in the score to extend Parklane’s lead to 20-0 with 6:30 left before halftime.
“We came out hot,” Carruth said of the offense’s performance. “We knew what was gonna happen, so we just came at them.”
And to complete a trio of first-half turnovers that proved to be damming for Heritage, safety Slade Steele slid for an interception over the middle during the next drive.
Hughes remained hot in return, as he found Ellison over the middle and watched as his elusive target beat multiple defenders to the end zone, in part thanks to a nice block from Carruth.
“He made great reads and was amazing tonight,” Rushing said of his QB. “We have great athletes, but someone has to be able to get them the ball.”
The Pioneer defense continually fed off its offense’s success, and its next series may have been its best of the night. Forrest combined for another sack–this time with linebacker Jay Alldredge–before Jackson came up with another clutch PBU.
“Paw [Forrest] is our anchor up front,” Rushing said. “He isn’t big in stature, but he plays like he’s 6-foot-7.”
But the highlight of the series came when Alldredge flew into the backfield on a blitz, blew up a running back’s attempted block and wrestled the quarterback to the ground to force yet another punt.
And to put the nail in the coffin before the halftime horn even sounded, Hughes & Co. produced one more scoring drive.
The senior signal-caller found Copeland for a nice catch-and-run to get the possession started, and Kyzar proceeded to power his way inside the five-yard line.
And just when Heritage’s defense was keyed in on Parklane’s tailbacks, Hughes decided to keep a read option and waltzed into the end zone. A quick pass to Carruth made the score 35-0 at the break, with the Pioneers having produced one of their most complete and dominant halves of the year.
“The offense is so explosive, and I think we’ve seen it a bit this year but tonight we really put it all together,” Hughes said. “The game plan all week was to get the ball to our playmakers, and nearly everybody had a touchdown.”
The beginning stages of the third quarter saw Parklane force a running clock with another score. Kyzar picked up a first down before Parker Winge spelled him, and the sophomore moved the chains again before the next play saw him emerge from a swarm of bodies and race to the end zone.
And with the clock progressively ticking away, Rushing was able to let plenty of his backups get some championship experience, with an explosive catch-and-run by senior receiver Cayden Sandifer highlighting the latter stages of the game.
In the end, it was déjà vu for the Pioneers’ players as they poured onto the field at Jackson Academy and celebrated with the teammates, coaches and fans that had made all of this possible.
“I’ve tried to slow it down, and it’s gonna be more special 15 years down the road when we’re talking about it,” Rushing said of not only winning another title, but also doing so with his son Kyle. “But I’ve now coached one of my kids for the last 12 years, and to win two state championships on the way is special.”
The result moves the all-time record between the schools to 2-0 in favor of Parklane.
The Pioneers finish a legendary campaign with an 11-1 overall record and a 2-1 mark in district play, and it doesn’t seem overly ambitious to place the Parklane program among the MAIS’ elite following another stellar season.
“These past two years have really set the standard,” Hughes said. “But there’s more to come, because Coach Rushing and this staff have really built a program that can keep winning like this.”
On the year, Parklane eclipsed the 30-point mark in all but three games while holding eight opponents to single-digits, and exempting the loss to MRA, no foe came within 10 points of defeating Rushing’s side.
Over the course of the past two seasons, the Pioneers have compiled a 23-3 overall record, with all of those defeats coming at the hands of larger schools.
“The standard is competing for state championships,” Rushing said. “We’re going to be really good again next year with a lot of our skill guys being sophomores and juniors, so we want to get back here next year.”
“I said it last year, this is just surreal,” Carruth added. “But honestly…it’s crazy…but I’m not satisfied. I want the three-peat.”
