Permian had its chances to rally and erase a touchdown deficit in the second half. Drake Womack intercepted a Legacy pass and returned it 44 yards to the Rebel 1-yard line to open the third quarter. The offensive unit couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity and were held out of the end zone three consecutive times for minus yardage. A short field goal attempt was then blocked and Mojo came away empty, with the score remaining 21-14.
The following possession found the Panthers facing a long 4th-and-4 approaching midfield. With the option of pinning the Rebels deep with a punt, the decision was made to go for the first down which failed. Legacy would take advantage of the field position and add another touchdown five plays later to re-establish a two touchdown lead.
Permian opened the game with five plays and a punt. Taking the ball on its own 10-yard line, Legacy took all of three plays to score on a 75-yard TD strike for a 7-0 lead. A Mojo three-and-out was followed by a 9-play, 80-yard scoring drive to give the Rebels a 13-0 first quarter lead. Legacy pushed the lead to 21-0 just six seconds into the second period.
The Panthers started to show some life and began to turn things around. JaQuan Richardson hauled in a 21-yard TD strike from Rodney Hall to cap-off a 10-play, 68-yard scoring drive to trail 21-7. The next set of downs for Permian ended with a fumble inside the Rebel redzone. The defense rose up and Mojo would get the ball back near midfield. A 44-yard halfback pass from Zach Wheeler to Lucas Salazar narrowed the difference to 21-14, a score that would carry into the intermission.
The second half became a defensive struggle fought in the trenches. The Womack interception ushered in the third quarter, but the turnover opportunity was squandered. The Rebels went up 28-14 late in the third on a 6-play scoring drive following the Mojo turnover on downs. Each team added a touchdown in the final 12 minutes for Permian to absorb a 34-21 loss.
Salazar finished with five catches for 97 yards, while Richardson had 95 yards receiving and another 38 yards rushing. The Black Cats (7-3) finish third in district and will now prepare for a 6A Bi-District date with El Paso Franklin (8-2) on Friday, November 12 at 7:30 at Cougar Stadium.
| BY QUARTER | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Permian |
00 | 14 | 00 | 07 | 21 |
| Legacy | 13 | 08 | 07 | 06 | 34 |
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
ML – Young 75 pass from Davila (Meade kick), 7:55
ML – Brazzell 6 pass from Davila (conv failed), 4:39
Second Quarter
ML – Young 4 run (Brazzell pass from Davila), 11:54
OP – JaQuan Richardson 21 pass from Hall (Terry kick), 6:14
OP – Lucas Salazar 44 pass from Wheeler (Terry kick), 0:28
Third Quarter
ML – Young 17 run (Meade kick), 2:11
Fourth Quarter
OP – Caysen Clinton 1 run (Terry kick), 6:55
ML – Young 3 run (kick failed), 1:06
| SPORTZ GAME STATS | ||
| PER | LEG | |
| First Downs | 14 | 19 |
| Total Yards | 324 | 429 |
| Rushing | 114 | 167 |
| Passing | 210 | 262 |
| C-A-I | 15-23-1 | 16-30-1 |
| Punt-Avg | 2-43.0 | 3-34.3 |
| Fumbles | 3-2 | 3-1 |
| Penalties | 6-60 | 4-50 |
All graphics, game summaries, and statistics – Terry Alan.
