In last year’s meeting at Ratliff, Permian utilized 21 unanswered second half points to rally past the Knights. Harker Heights flipped the script tonight, controlling much of the second and third quarters. A valiant fourth quarter surge wasn’t enough to regain the early Panther lead.
While Permian’s first possession of the game ended in a punt, Harker Heights posted the game’s first points with a 31-yard field goal on the ensuing 14-play drive. In response, the Panthers unleashed a quick 6-play, 85-yard scoring drive that was capped off on a Juzstyce Lara short touchdown run for a 6-3 advantage. Extra point failed. Lara again found the endzone midway into the second stanza to give the Black Cats a 13-3 edge.
The Knights came to life and cut the deficit to 13-10 with an 84-yard TD pass, and then followed that with a 6-play, 61-yard scoring drive to capture a 17-13 halftime lead. Eight penalties were committed in the first half – six by the Panthers. Permian would end the night with 12 penalties for 82 yards.
Harker Heights opened the second half with a 11-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was finished by a 29-yard TD pass to push the tally to 24-13. Luckily for Permian, the Knights failed to cash in on an intercepted pass on the second play of the ensuing possession. The Panthers took over late in the third quarter, backed up on their own 5-yard line. It was take 11 plays for the Permian offense to advance the ball to the Killeen 44 to end the third frame.
On the first play of the final quarter, Isaac Herrera broke loose on a 44-yard scamper to narrow the difference to 24-19. The two-point conversion attempt failed. After an exchange of punts, the Knights added a 41-yard field goal to have the Panthers trailing by eight midway into the fourth.
Marred by more penalties, the Permian offense still successfully churned out a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Jakob Garcia found paydirt from four yards out to have the Panthers trail 27-25 with two minutes and some change left in the game. The Black Cats were unable to complete the conversion attempt which would have knotted the game. From there, Harker Heights ran out the clock.
Permian will travel to Shotwell Stadium next week to meet former district foe Abilene Cooper in the final non-district game of the season. The Panthers defeated the Cougars 56-28 in last year’s contest.
| BY QUARTER | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Permian |
06 | 07 | 00 | 12 | 25 |
| Heights | 03 | 14 | 07 | 03 | 27 |
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
HH – Fletcher 31 FG, 4:08
OP – Lara 2 run (kick fail), 2:25
Second Quarter
OP – Lara 2 run (Franco kick), 6:17
HH – McMillan 84 pass from Plake (Fletcher kick), 1:16
HH – Johnson 1 pass from Plake (Fletcher kick), 0:03
Third Quarter
HH – McMillan 29 pass from Plake (Fletcher kick), 8:21
Fourth Quarter
OP – Herrera 44 run (conversion fail), 11:51
HH – Fletcher 41 FG, 6:49
OP – Garcia 4 run (conversion fail), 2:26
| SPORTZ GAME STATS | ||
| OP | HH | |
| First Downs | 18 | 15 |
| Total Yards | 382 | 413 |
| Rushing | 235 | 72 |
| Passing | 147 | 341 |
| C-A-I | 15-20-1 | 25-38-0 |
| Fumbles | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties | 12-82 | 3-20 |
Summary and stats – Terry Alan.
