In the only game this past weekend that featured two teams ranked in the top 10 of the state, the #5 Blanco Panthers won a hard fought battle over the #9 East Bernard Brahmas. Although both teams came into the game with hopes of getting one step closer to a state championship, it will be the Panthers who move on to play the Odem Owls this Friday as only 8 teams remain in the playoff picture for 3A-Div II.
After a scoreless opening quarter of play in which the Panthers were unable to take advantage of a 1st and goal situation to score early, Blanco would not waste their next opportunity with just over 4 minutes left in the half. Following a poor Brahman punt that set up the Panthers deep in East Bernard territory, senior Colton Elrod scored on the ensuing play for Blanco as he bulled his way into the end zone for the game’s first score. Aikman Elrod added the PAT to give Blanco a 7-0 lead that held up for the first half of play.
East Bernard answered quickly at the beginning of the third quarter, scoring on a 74 yard pass play on their second play from scrimmage. A successful PAT tied the score at 7 apiece. Not to be outdone, Blanco responded on their next possession with a 66 yard, 9 play drive, taking almost 5 minutes, before Quarterback McKay Adamson pushed his way in for the touchdown on a 1 yard run. Aikman Elrod added another PAT to put the Panthers back on top, 14-7.
Although the Brahmas threatened to score with drives of 16 and 11 plays deep into Panther territory in the fourth quarter, Blanco’s defense stood the test forcing East Bernard to turn over the ball on downs to stop one drive and then forcing an interception to end another. Following the final East Bernard turnover, Blanco managed to pick up a key first down that allowed them to run out the clock and preserve the 14-7 win.
For the game, Blanco’s offense totaled 236 yards and 14 first downs against a stingy Brahman defense. Adrien Dominguez and Colton Elrod led the Panther attack with 137 and 81 yards respectively on the ground.
Defensively, the Panthers held the potent East Bernard ground game to just 112 yards and only 300 for the game, well below their average of over 400 yards per game. Although Blanco yielded a season high 14 first downs to the Brahmas, 3 key turnovers proved costly as Eddie Torres’ fumble recovery and Carson Kipp’s 2 interceptions prevented any chance of the Brahmas tying or taking the lead.
With the win, Blanco improves to 13 and 0 on the season and will most likely move up a spot or two in the poles as they prepare to take on the 12 and 1 Odem Owls. Odem comes into the game following play-off wins over over Freer 66-6, Karnes City 20-0 and this past Friday over Van Vleck 40-36. Other than Karnes City, another common opponent that both Odem and Blanco have seen is the Panthers’ second round opponent Taft whom Odem defeated 35-27 in district play. Kick-off this Friday will be in San Antonio at 7:30 pm at Comalander Stadium.
5 photos attached to this article.
More from Sports.