With hopes of playing in Thursday’s 3A Division II State Championship Game on the line this past Friday in Waller, the Panthers played a hard fought game that proved to be evenly matched for the first half of play. However, some missed opportunities by Blanco and the team speed of Newton allowed the Eagles to pull away in the second half and send the Panthers home as their season came to an end with a 48-21 loss.
Newton opened the game with an 8 play 65 yard drive ending with a 1 yard run. Following the PAT, the Eagles jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. Not to be outdone, the Panthers answered on their first drive covering 70 yards in 10 plays to score on a 6 yard run by Adrien Dominguez. Aikman Elrod added the extra point to knot the score at 7 all at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter proved to be more of a defensive battle until the final 4 minutes of play when the Eagles covered 98 yards in just 5 plays, scoring on a 79 yard sprint. Another successful PAT put Newton back on top at 14-7. The Panthers answered with a 61 yard drive as Dominguez covered the final 23 yards for the TD. Although Blanco failed on the conversion attempt, Newton’s lead was cut to 14-13. The Panthers caught a break on the ensuing kick-off when an Eagle fumble gave Blanco the ball at the Newton 19 yard line. From here, Blanco needed only 4 plays to take the lead on a Colton Elrod 6 yard run. McKay Adamson then added the 2 point conversion run and the Panthers lead 21-14 with just over a minute left in the half. However, after a face mask on the first play of Newton’s drive put the Eagles near midfield, a crucial completion on a pass to the sideline resulted in a 46 yard pick up deep into Panther territory. From here, it only took 2 plays for Newton to tie the game at 21 after a 5 yard run and another PAT.
Newton’s late first half score seemed to take the wind out of the Panthers’ sails as the Eagles scored 4 more times in the second half to pull away for a 48-21 victory.
Offensively, the Panthers picked up 17 first downs and 241 yards in total offense as Dominguez led the way with 103 yards on 18 carries. Logan Dodd also pitched in with 45 yards on just 4 rushes. Colton Elrod and Adamson added 43 and 38 yards respectively on the ground. Defensively, Blanco gave up 20 first downs and over 400 yards with 336 yards coming on the ground. The Panthers did force two key turnovers as Carson Kipp and Dominguez were each credited with a fumble recovery.
With the loss, Blanco’s season comes to an end at 14 wins and just 1 loss. No doubt, the Panthers should finish in the top 5 when the final rankings come out for the season. Newton will now advance to the state championship game where they will face the Waskom Wildcats who rallied from a 21-6 halftime deficit to defeat Sonora 25-21 this past Friday. With the loss, 15 seniors played their final game for Blanco. These Panthers are Logan Dodd, McKay Adamson, Dylan Tesch, Dru Ramirez, Aikman Elrod, Carson Kipp, Alex Juarez, Colton Elrod, Andrew Burgess, Dylan Bates, Jake Breeding, Tray Hodge, Hunter Goodman, Grant Calzoncit, and James McFarlin. However, Blanco will return a strong group for another run next year. Those returning from this year’s play-off run will include Aaron Uballe, Justin Requenes, Jordon Wagner, Kelby Cox, Adrien Dominguez, Eddie Torres, Chase Horton, Ryan Ronces, Kailen Webster, Kameron Martinez, James Rodriguez, Gus Martinez, Kyle Arnold, Wes Eskew, Chase Coggins, Ryan Bible, Joe Lopez, Joe Perkins, Trent Pruitt, Cross Caldwell, Jared Mayfield, and Sebastian Thomas along with several key players moving up from a strong JV team that went undefeated in district play.
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