Sophomore Malachi Mendoza stepped up big with two interceptions on the night – one for a pick-6 to give Permian a quick 7-0 lead to start the game, and the second one snuffed out the Bobcats’ last hope of tying the game in the fourth quarter.
San Angelo Central opened the contest with what looked to be an impressive drive. Mendoza dashed Bobcat hopes when he stepped in front of an inside slant pass at the 10 yard line and returned it all the way for the game’s first points. The Angry Orange drove the ball 75 yards in 11 plays on the next possession to knot the tally at 7-7.
The claws came out in the second frame. The Concho Cats took advantage of a Black Cat fumble and marched 67 yards to paydirt for their first lead of the game. On the next play from scrimmage, Jakob Garcia and Cason Nabarette hooked up for a 77-yard touchdown catch to even the score at 14-14.
Fur would continue to fly. The Bobcats added a 55-yard TD pass, but the Panthers answered with a 12-yard TD catch by Cayden Hernandez to send the teams into intermission deadlocked at 21-21.
Permian regained the lead on the opening drive of the third quarter. A 9-play, 62-yard scoring drive was capped off with a 10-yard TD pass from Garcia to Cameron Mattingly. Central could only manage a short field goal to close out the quarter with the Panthers leading 28-24.
In the final stanza, the Angry Orange was able to cut the deficit to a single point, courtesy of another field goal. Mojo responded with a time consuming 7-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Nabarette collected his second touchdown pass of the night, this time from 18 yards out to give Permian the 35-27 advantage with five minutes and some change left in regulation play.
Back-to-back three-and-outs left the Concho Cats with the ball at the 2:00 time out. Two first downs had the Bobcats just past midfield as seconds drained off of the clock. A pass to the left sideline was intercepted by Mendoza on a toe-tap catch at the 24-yard line, with a little over a minute to play. The Panthers had secured the win and ran out the clock for the 35-27 district victory.
The Panthers produced 376 yards of total offense, while the Bobcats finished the night with 460. Garcia threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns, with Nabarette hauling in five of those catches for 133 yards and two TDs.
Permian (2-0, 6-1) will turn its sights east toward Midland for a date with the Legacy Rebels (2-0, 3-4) at Astound Broadband Stadium next Friday. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
| BY QUARTER | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Central | 07 | 14 | 03 | 03 | 27 |
| Permian | 07 | 14 | 07 | 07 | 35 |
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
PER – Malachi Mednoza 90 INT return (Iker Munoz kick), 7:48
SAC – Colton Hill 14 pass from Micah Smith (Holbert kick), 3:11
Second Quarter
SAC – Zeyvion Johnson 1 run (Holbert kick), 7:01
PER – Nabarette 77 pass from Garcia (Munoz kick), 6:45
SAC – J Edwards 55 pass from Smith (Holbert kick), 3:28
PER – Hernandez 12 pass from Garcia (Munoz kick), 0:53
Third Quarter
PER – Mattingly 10 pass from Garcia (Munoz kick), 6:29
SAC – Holbert 19 Field Goal, 2:26
Fourth Quarter
SAC – Holbert 31 Field Goal, 8:41
PER – Nabarette 18 from Garcia (Munoz kick), 5:40
| SPORTZ GAME STATS | ||
| SAC | PER | |
| First Downs | 22 | 15 |
| Total Yards | 460 | 376 |
| Rushing | 269 | 55 |
| Passing | 191 | 321 |
| C-A-I | 12-27-2 | 18-23-0 |
| Fumbles | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Penalties | 8-85 | 8-65 |
Summary & Stats – Terry Alan
