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After a convincing win over Jarrell the week before, the Panthers wasted little time in setting the tone early against the visiting Lexington Eagles as Blanco jumped out to an early 21 to 0 lead and never looked backed in rolling to a 43 to 21 win. With the victory, Blanco improves to 4 and 4 on the year and more importantly 2 and 2 in district play with two games to go. In addition, the win also ends a two-game losing streak to Lexington while putting the Panthers in place to clinch a play-off spot this week at Johnson City.
The first quarter started with a bang for the Panthers, as Logan Dodd scored the game’s first TD on a 54-yard pass play from McKay Adamson. Aikman Elrod added the PAT and gave Blanco an early 7 to 0 lead. On Blanco’s next possession, Dodd struck again, scoring on a 23-yard run around the left end. Although the extra point was no good, the Panthers’ lead was extended to 13-0 at the end of the opening quarter of play.
The second quarter saw the Panthers continue to add to the scoreboard, as Colton Elrod found the end zone on a 14-yard run. Adamson added the two-point conversion run to increase the score to 21-0. Finally, with time running out in the first half, the Eagles put together their first scoring drive of the night ending in a 1-yard TD run. Following a successful PAT, the halftime score was 21-7 in favor of Blanco.
Lexington returned to the second half with momentum from their first touchdown and scored on their first offensive play as the Eagle QB sprinted 69 yards. Although they missed the extra point, the game was now within reach for the Eagles at 21-13. However, Blanco put to end any hopes of a Lexington comeback, scoring on their next two drives with Adamson scoring on a 1-yard run and Adrian Dominguez adding a 70-yard touchdown sprint. Aikman Elrod added a PAT and Adamson passed to Colton Elrod to convert both a PAT and two-point conversion following the TDs to increase Blanco’s lead to 36-13 going into the fourth quarter.
The final quarter of play saw both teams trade scores, with the Eagles scoring on an 11-yard pass play and two-point conversion while Dominguez added a 40-yard TD run, followed by an Aikman Elrod PAT to close out the game at 43-21.
Offensively, Blanco rolled up a season high 463 yards in offense with over 300 yards coming on the ground. Adrian Dominguez led all rushers with 190 yards and 2 TDs on 21 carries. McKay Adamson added another 150 yards through the air to the Panther total, while Logan Dodd picked up 100 all-purpose yards and 2 TDs on three touches.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers gave up 16 first downs and just over 300 yards to the Eagles while forcing 4 punts and 2 turnovers, both interceptions by Dru Ramirez and John Hodge.
Blanco will now begin preparations for this week’s game at Johnson City when the Panthers travel north to take on their county rivals. Although the Eagles started the year 4 and 0, JC has dropped 5 straight in district play. With a win, the Panthers can clinch a play-off spot. Kick-off at JC is set for 7:30 pm.
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