The annual cross-town rivalry game between Permian and Odessa High is officially on the clock. This week, we dive headfirst into the deep historical feuds and realities of Mojo versus Big Red.
While the weekly Game PawViews (previews) are objective and packed with raw data, team comparisons, player metrics and statistical variations, Terry’s Two Cents Worth tells it like it is. Let’s be completely honest out of the gate: on paper, this game looks like an absolute mismatch.
The Panthers are rolling at an undefeated 7-0 clip after dismantling Midland Lee 42-10 on the road. Meanwhile, the Bronchos are limping into Ratliff Stadium on a grueling four-game skid, fresh off a 47-13 thumping by Midland High. But when it comes to the battle for the city of Odessa, you can take the entire statistics sheet, crumple it up, and throw it straight into the waste basket… well, kinda.
WEATHER WATCH:
With the cold front rolling into the area, Friday’s game time temp is forecast to be about 53° at kickoff with grueling winds out of the northeast at 25 mph – all the makings for an old-school ground trench war. Protecting and securing the football will be at a premium.
AVOIDING THE TRAP
The single most dangerous opponent the Black Cats will face for the remainder of the district schedule is staring back at them in the mirror. If Mojo enters the stadium coasting on the emotional high of the Lee victory, they are walking straight into a textbook trap. To Odessa High, this is their entire season. They circled this date on their calendar the day the schedules came out in July.
TACTICAL STRATEGY
While our Game PawView contained raw individual yardage margins, a deeper look at the game tape reveals the adjustments needed to trigger an early surrender. When Permian has the ball, the primary objective is exposing the structural interior lane fatigue that Midland High exploited so ruthlessly against the Bronchos last week. Middle linebacker Devin Padilla is a high-motor tackler, but their defensive line consistently struggles to hold their own.
Instead of just trading standard option sets, Kayden Vickers should aggressively look for early vertical play-action seams out of heavy run-formations. Freezing the interior linebackers will completely isolate the Broncho cornerbacks. With 25 mph winds, 15-yard out patterns will be more desirable than attempting the long ball Vickers has come to master. Once established, it will force the OHS defensive front to pull their safeties out of the box, clearing massive rushing lanes. (see MHS-OHS film)
On the defensive side of the ball, suffocate the timeline of quarterback Phillip Carrasco (or J’Zavian Kelly or Ashton Hernandez). In our PawView analysis, we noted that the efficiency Carrasco and Kelly drops immensely the instant edge pressure forces them out of their base drop. Our standard four-man front – anchored by edge containment to prevent the QB from scrambling or checking down to Ayden Garcia – is more than enough to handle their sets.
SECRETS OF THE 1993 SEASON
Now… to understand why tension between these two programs runs so deep, you can go back 30+ years to one of the most controversial chapters in West Texas sports history. It ranks right there with the 1988 state playoffs and Dallas Carter. The 1993 district record books show a 2-0 victory for Odessa High over Permian, completely omitting what actually transpired on the turf.
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine (“The Bible of Texas Football”) had the 1993 Panthers picked to dominate the district and touted them as a heavy state favorite for a deep, multi-round championship run. On the field, the Permian rolled to a perfect 10-0 regular season. That dominant run included a resounding 38-8 blowout victory over Odessa High. But the real war was happening behind closed doors.
Broncho Head Coach Bill Barron was already embroiled in a bitter, gloves-off war with the local media, going so far as to completely bar the local newspaper from the campus and practice field. The newspaper retaliated by leaving massive, blank white spaces in the Sports section where OHS game previews usually sat!
The nuclear option was deployed right after the 38-8 drumming on the field. In a strange coincidence, an anonymous late-night fax was fired directly to the District Executive Committee, leaking the academic transfer folders of Benji Garcia. To protect the players while the district scrambled to fight the eligibility claim, lawyers secured a temporary restraining order from a State Judge.
Under that injunction, Permian – as the legitimate District Champion – was allowed to take the field for Week 11. The Panthers soundly defeated Lubbock Coronado 34-17 in the Bi-District Round of the state playoffs. Immediately after that game, the court injunction dissolved, and the UIL took action.
The fallout shook the entire district. ECISD Superintendent Dr. Gene Buinger formally called in the Texas Rangers to launch a full criminal investigation into who illegally breached the confidential student files. Because Garcia had suited up for a Varsity pre-season scrimmage at Odessa High before transferring under the district’s Minority-to-Majority guidelines, the UIL meticulously enforced the technical calendar infraction.
As a result, Mojo was disqualified from the playoffs, forcing them to retroactively forfeit their playoff win to Coronado and ending their State Championship playoff run. Head coach Tam Hollingshead and the undefeated ’93 Panthers are in the books finishing with a mere 3-7 record. 😡
The ultimate heartbreak to that season didn’t happen because of a malicious compliance cover-up; it came down to a clash between local academic policy and rigid state athletic rules. The Garcia relocation was reviewed and authorized by the superintendent and thoroughly logged through the athletic offices of then Athletic Director John Wilkins. It stands as a lesson that bureaucratic oversights can derail a championship locomotive faster than any defense in the state.
And now, the historical twist to this crosstown saga. The two-year starting Odessa High quarterback that graduated with the Class of 1993… just months before the circus reached its boiling point, was a kid named Erik Hartman… the exact man who will be standing on the opposing sideline as Broncho Head Coach this Friday night! He spent his years under center at OHS getting terrorized by the ‘MOJO D’ in back-to-back losses (44-0 in ’91 / 14-0 in ’92). The history is real and the blood lines run deep. Small world, huh?
PEACHES & CREAM… MAYBE NOT
The annual rivalry has had a checkered past. There have been team mascots painted both red and black several times. A few years ago, the Mojo victory sign and campus building had to be sandblasted after a Westside Picasso did some customizing with spray paint. Player yard signs have been a popular target in the span covering 60 years. There are pranks and mischievous acts that are harmless in nature… and then there’s criminal acts of vandalism.
SURVEY SAYS…
This Friday night is a crosstown rivalry game and they are always of their own creature, but let’s be realistic. If Permian brings the discipline and focus that they should, I fully anticipate seeing reserve players picking up extra game minutes by the fourth quarter. Panthers roll to 8-0. MOJO 41, LITL’ RED PONIES 7
Turning the attention to last week’s game predictions, MojoLand’s Gem had the closest pick with a Permian victory of 15 points. Final score was 42-10. We want to welcome Darby McCormick (First Alert 7 Sports)! She will be joining our panel of sports pickers.
Authors: T Alan, Gem
SPORTS MEDIA PANEL PICKS:
> Matt Stepp (Texas Football) – Permian by 35
> Tony Blalock (TXHSFB) – Permian 49, Odessa 7 (+42)
> Christopher Hadorn (MRT) – Permian 49, Odessa 7 (+42)
> Adrian Martinez (MTZ Media) – Permian 59, Odessa 7 (+52)
> Trey Francis (KMID2) – Permian 56, Odessa 10 (+46)
< Dalton Arredondo (KMID2) – Permian 55, Odessa 3 (+52)
> Grabiel Silva (KWES9) – Permian 56, Odessa 13 (+43)
> Ethan Becker (KWES9) – Permian 56, Odessa 7 (+49)
> Darby McCormick (CBS7) – Permian 56, Odessa 3 (+53)
> Gem (MojoLand) – Permian 56, Odessa 14 (+42)
> Terry Alan (MojoLand) – Permian 41, Odessa 7 (+34)
= Consensus (11-0) – Permian 53, Odessa 8 (+45)
See Permian vs Odessa High Preview – [ HERE ].
Media Citations:
Chicago Tribune Sports Desk (Oct. 10, 1993)
Los Angeles Times HS Registry (Oct. 10, 1993)
Odessa American Microfilm Index (Nov. 24, 1993)
358th State District Court Records
