Mojo Stays Perfect In Non-District Finale

The opening frame played out exactly like a classic, old-school defensive trench war. Both defensive fronts flew to the football with vicious intensity, trading big hits and limiting the high-powered offenses to combined single-digit yardage margins in the first 12 minutes of play.

But the second quarter gave the scoreboard a workout. Permian drew first blood at the 11:40 mark when dynamic back Josh Curry found an interior seam, bounced outside, and exploded down the field for a 55-yard touchdown gallop to ignite the home crowd.

Camden answered immediately. Just over a minute later, explosive sophomore Jayden Boyce showcased his perimeter burst, slipping past the Mojo linebackers for a 65-yard touchdown sprint to knot the game at 7-7.

Permian responded with a methodical, heavy 14-play drive that completely wore down Camden’s two-way iron-man defenders. Power back Cayden Taylor capped the drive by physically plunging into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown with 1:28 left in the half, pushing Mojo back in front 14-7.

Camden manufactured a scoring drive of their own just before the intermission on a 27-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds on the clock. Camden opted for a 2-point conversion, but Mojo’s secondary choked out the throwing lane to protect a slim 14-13 halftime cushion.

While Permian quarterback Kayden Vickers battled through a tough night through the air, Mojo’s relentless ground-and-pound identity completely took over the third quarter.  Vickers kept his composure to orchestrate a crucial drive at the 6:45 mark, executing a sequence that ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Navarrete to build an eight-point separation at 21-13.

Minutes later, Dae Dae McDowell provided the play of the night. Taking a standard pitch, McDowell ran into a wall of Camden defenders, suddenly reversing direction in the backfield, found a block and out-raced the entire East Coast secondary down the left sideline for an unbelievable 53-yard touchdown scamper to extend the lead to a 28-13.

While Camden’s physical backfield managed to rack up hard-earned yards on the ground, their offensive consistency was completely dismantled by a relentless barrage of yellow flags. Camden shot themselves in the foot all night, racking up a staggering 15 penalties for 140 lost yards. Every single time the visitors threatened to mount a comeback, yellow laundry snuffed out the momentum.

The Permian defense put the final clamps on the game in the fourth quarter. Mojo forced two failed fourth down attempts and systematically suffocated the Camden passing attack, holding the visitors to 35 passing yards on the entire night. In the final minutes, the Black Cats drained the clock to seal the 15-point victory.

Permian produced 340 yards of total offense, while Camden finished the night with 321.  Vickers went 8-of-18 for 105 passing yards.  Curry, Taylor, McDowell, and Navarrete each contributed a touchdown.  Taylor finished with 82 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Tonight’s contest brings a conclusion to the non-district schedule for the Black Cats.  Permian (6-0) will head to Midland with a 0-0 district mark to face the Lee Rebels (3-2) at Astound Broadband Stadium on October 9 at 7:00 p.m.  Our weekly preview of the upcoming game will post on Tuesday.
  

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter
no scoring

Second Quarter
PER – J Curry 55 run (Munoz kick), 11:40
CAM – Boyce 65 run (Nelson kick), 10:19
PER – C Taylor 1 run (Munoz kick), 1:28
CAM – Wyche 27 run (conv fail), 0:40

Third Quarter
PER – Navarrete 9 pass from Vickers (Munoz kick), 6:45
PER – McDowell 53 run (Munoz kick), 4:23

Fourth Quarter
no scoring
  

Summary & Stats – Terry Alan
  

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