After watching their past four games come down to the final drive to determine who would come out on top, Blanco thoroughly enjoyed a dominant performance in defeating the visiting Jarrell Cougars 42 to 14. Not since defeating Comfort 42 to14 in their second game of the season have the Panthers been involved in a game that wasn’t decided by 7 points or less.
Blanco wasted little time in taking control of the game, scoring three times in the opening quarter and taking just 10 offensive plays to jump out to a 21 to 0 lead behind TD runs from Colton Childress, Colton Elrod and Sam Isenberg. Childress struck first on the game’s second offensive play, sprinting 77 yards through the Cougar defense, while Elrod closed out a 7-play 50-yard drive with an 11-yard run before QB Sam Isenberg coasted in for an easy 10-yard TD. Aikman Elrod converted all 3 PATs to close out the first quarter scoring for Blanco.
The second quarter finally saw Jarrell come to life, as the Cougars would trade TDs with the Panthers, scoring first on a 10-yard run. Blanco answered with Childress scoring for the second time on the night from 3 yards out. Then, on the Cougars’ next possession, Jarrell drove 76 yards in 4 plays to score again on a 24-yard run. However, Blanco had the final say in the half, as Isenberg rolled out and bought time dodging the Cougar defense before firing a strike to McKay Adamson in the end zone for the score. Although both teams matched each other in touchdowns, the difference in the quarter came down to extra points, as Elrod converted both PATs while the Panther defense stopped both of Jarrell’s 2-point conversion attempts to make the halftime score 35 to 12.
With the Panthers in control, Blanco returned for the second half and scored one more time on a Tim Goodman 12-yard run. After Elrod added his 7th extra point of the night, Blanco led 42 to 12 and called in the backups to finish the game, as the Panthers closed out any further Cougar threats of scoring while eating up the clock and closing out the win.
On the offensive side of the ball, Blanco had a very balanced attack, rolling up 239 yards on the ground and 145 through the air. Childress led all players with 284 all-purpose yards, 104 rushing, 86 receiving, and 94 return yards. Goodman added 63 yards on the ground, followed by Colton Elrod with 51. Isenberg had another strong outing at QB, completing 6 of 8 passes for 126 yards, as the Blanco offense went the whole game without committing a penalty.
Defensively, the Panthers yielded 340 yards while forcing the Cougars to punt 3 times and turn the ball over on downs twice. Childress and Isenberg each intercepted passes returning the ball 36 and 14 yards respectively to set up Blanco with excellent field position. Other outstanding plays on defense were turned in by Jake Breeding, Aikman Elrod and Quin Dillard.
At 5 and 2 on the season and 3 and 0 in district play, the district title will be on the line Friday when the Panthers travel to Lexington to take on the state ranked Eagles who also sport the same record. Kick-off is set for 7:30 pm.
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