Byron Nelson steamrolls Justin Northwest behind tight end-turned-quarterback
Trophy Club Byron Nelson’s Parker Almanza hadn’t played quarterback for two years until this season, spending his time at tight end.
Almanza has steadily gotten more comfortable back at the helm, and now has his Bobcats on the verge of claiming a playoff berth as Byron Nelson thumped Northwest ISD rival Justin Northwest 41-3 in a District 4-6A game Friday at Northwest ISD Stadium.
With the win, Byron Nelson (6-2, 5-1) has all but clinched a spot in the playoffs. Northwest (2-6, 1-5) has likely been eliminated from contention with earlier losses to Keller and Keller Central.
“I’m just looking forward to getting better and better each week,” said Almanza, who accounted for 334 total yards against Northwest. “We started off 1-2 on the season and that’s not what we intended, but I think that we’ve done a good job of bouncing back, staying level-headed and getting better every week.”
Almanza accounted for the first three touchdowns for Byron with a 6-yard run, a 40-yard pass to Mahamadou Siby and a 13-yard toss to Nolan Hawkins that made it 21-0 with 8:13 left before halftime. Almanza finished with 10 carries for 116 yards rushing and 9-of-24 passing for 218 more yards.
“He’s doing a phenomenal job,” Byron Nelson coach Zach Woodward said of his senior signal-caller. “There are drives where he just takes over, whether it’s with his legs or with his arm.
“He’s gotten more comfortable in that role, being the face of the program and has learned how to handle the pressure, which we knew he would do. I’ve never been more proud of the kid.”
Woodward knew that the Texans were going to give them their best shot since they were fighting for their playoff lives. He added that he thought that whoever handled the time change for the game better was going to be huge.
The game was moved up from 7 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. to beat storms that were predicted to roll through the area later in the evening.
“I have a ton of respect for [Northwest coach Bill Poe] and what he does over there, and that’s what we told the kids all week, that you were absolutely going to get their best shot,” Woodward said. “We spent a good deal of time Wednesday and again at our team meal yesterday talking about how life is all about changing and adapting and things never go the way you think. So have a plan for that change, and let’s be better at that.”
The Bobcats’ defense really got the message, allowing just a 27-yard field goal by Brody Rauch that cut the Byron Nelson lead to 21-3 with 3:11 left before the intermission. Nelson’s defense gave up 158 total yards, with the Texans picking up just 41 yards on the ground on 30 attempts.
Almanza guided the Bobcats to three more scores before reserves came on to finish out the game. Macavion Hill scored on a 28-yard run, and kicker Oliver Bell added field goals of 27 and 28 yards, with the latter giving Byron Nelson a 34-3 lead with 8:20 left in the game.
Running back Caris Sela led Northwest with 94 yards rushing on 17 attempts, but the Bobcat’s defense had 12 tackles for losses, including seven on Texan quarterback Mark Hartman for minus-62 yards. Hartman did go 22-of-26 passing, but for just 117 yards.
Almanza said it was always fun playing against a school district rival like Northwest.
“We wanted to show them that this is our stadium,” said Almanza, whose Bobcats were the visitors at the shared stadium against Northwest. “This isn’t Northwest Stadium this is Byron Nelson Stadium. We wanted to prove that to them because we already beat [Haslet] Eaton here. ... This is our field.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 11:20 PM.