With the victory, the Panthers claimed sole possession of the District 2-6A Championship title for 2025. While the Black Cats were co-champions in 2022, the last time they went undefeated at 5-0 in district and won the outright district championship title was in 2008.
Things started off shaky for the Panthers in tonight’s district finale. The opening kickoff was mishandled and Midland High setup shop at the Mojo 32 before a single offensive play was ran. It would take just four plays for the Bulldogs to take advantage of the early gift. Jordan McGowan found the endzone on a 12-yard touchdown run to have Permian trail 7-0. The score would hold the remainder of the opening period, but the Black Cats started a promising drive at the end of the quarter.
Junior running back Cayden Taylor uncorked a 23-yard TD scamper to cap off a 13-play, 88-yard scoring drive to pull the Panthers to within a point early in the second stanza. While the Mojo D kept the Purple Pups in check, the Permian offense continued to search for a productive rhythm.
The Black Cats suffered another setback when the Bulldogs intercepted a pass near midfield. The Permian defense continued to dominate and gave the ball back to the offense on the 31-yard line. Seven plays later, junior quarterback Kayden Vickers hooked up with sophomore receiver Aaron Navarrete on a 7-yard TD strike for the Panthers’ first lead of the game.
Two minutes before intermission, Midland High was again forced into a three-and-out. Taking over at his own 47, Vickers took all of one play to unleash a 53-yard touchdown strike to Cason Nabarrette to extend the Mojo lead to 19-7. The two teams would head to their respective locker rooms with Permian ahead by 12 points.
Two long sustained possessions ushered in the second half, but neither team could make any headway on the scoreboard. Forced to punt from deep within its own end of the field, Midland High gave the Black Cats the ball at midfield. On the first play from scrimmage, Vickers threw his third touchdown pass of the night. It would be a 43-yarder to Navarrete for a 26-7 Mojo lead late in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs tried to answer and put together their best effort of the contest. The drive would begin at the end of the third frame and carry over into the start of the fourth quarter. The possession consisted of nine plays that covered 70 yards. Midland High looked poised to score from inside the redzone, but Mojo’s Caleb Jamison spoiled the Bulldog hopes when he jumped the route and intercepted the pass at the 3 yard line and returned it to the 17.
In full control of the game, Permian set its sights on chewing up the remaining time on the clock. The Panthers utilized eight plays to burn five minutes off of the game ticker. Gavin Black capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to give the Black Cats a 33-7 lead. The Bulldogs added one last TD run when Tristan Love scored from four yards out. Mojo finishes the regular season with a 33-14 victory.
The Panthers produced 480 yards of total offense, while the Bulldogs finished the night with 269. Vickers completed 16 out of 20 passes and threw for 288 yards, including three touchdowns. Navarrete was recipient of two of those TD passes. Black rushed for 142 yards from 22 carries while scoring the touchdown late in the game.
The Black Cats (5-0, 9-1) will now turn their sights toward the state playoffs, where they will host the El Paso Eastlake Falcons in the Bi-District Round on November 14. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. The MojoLand playoff game preview will post on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.
Q: What comes after winning a District Gold Ball?
A: Winning a Bi-District Gold Ball… and jamming on some HAWAII 5-0!
Well Duh!!!
(Don’t forget to bring the Victory Bell!)
| BY QUARTER | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Midland | 07 | 00 | 00 | 07 | 14 |
| Permian | 00 | 19 | 07 | 07 | 33 |
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
MID – Jordan McGowan 12 run (Ramos kick), 9:47
Second Quarter
PER – Cayden Taylor 23 run (PAT fail), 10:51
PER – A Navarrete 7 pass from Vickers (Conv fail), 1:56
PER – C Nabarrette 53 pass from Vickers (Munoz kick), 0:59
Third Quarter
PER – A Navarrete 43 pass from Vickers (Munoz kick), 1:21
Fourth Quarter
PER – G Black 8 run (Munoz kick), 6:20
MID – Tristan Love 4 run (Ramos kick), 3:01
| SPORTZ GAME STATS | ||
| MID | PER | |
| First Downs | 12 | 13 |
| Total Yards | 269 | 480 |
| Rushing | 148 | 192 |
| Passing | 121 | 288 |
| C-A-I | 8-15-1 | 16-20-1 |
| Fumbles | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| Penalties | 3-25 | 7-50 |
Summary & Stats – Terry Alan
