A scoreless first quarter ended in second quarter blowout. The Panthers put on a masterclass in complementary football, leveraging a relentless ground game, an aggressive defense, and special teams dominance to dismantle the Bronchos.
The game began as a field-position duel, but Permian blew it open in the second quarter. The Panthers broke the ice with a 15-yard touchdown run by Cayden Taylor. Soon after, the defense pinned the OHS deep in their own territory. Following a quick three-and-out, Permian’s Malachi Mendoza fielded a Broncho punt and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown, shifting all momentum.
Odessa High struggled heavily with ball security, throwing consecutive interceptions. Permian capitalized instantly when quarterback Kayden Vickers launched a beautiful 44-yard touchdown pass to Zephaniah DeLeon. Right before halftime, Aaron Navarrete caught a 14-yard touchdown strike, and defensive back Nata Cordoza put the exclamation point on the half by jumping a route for a stunning 61-yard pick-6 touchdown. At the break, Permian held a commanding 35-0 lead.
Permian didn’t lift their foot off the gas in the third quarter. On their opening drive, Mendoza capped off a quick series with a 29-yard touchdown reception. From there, running back Mark Herrera took complete control of the game. He found a seam on the next drive to punch in a 25-yard touchdown run, and followed it up on the next possession by exploding through the line for a spectacular 62-yard touchdown run to finish the scoring at 56-0.
With the contest clearly at hand, several of the Mojo starters were forced to watch the final 12 minutes from the sidelines. There’s a lot of depth to the 2026 Panther roster – in athletic ability and grade classification.
The Panthers produced 410 yards of total offense, while the Bronchos finished the night with 142. Herrera racked up a pair of touchdowns rushing, while Mendoza added a receiving TD and punt return.
Permian (8-0, 2-0) will head back to Astound Broadband Stadium for a District 2-6A clash with Midland High (4-3, 1-0) on October 23 at 7:00 p.m. Our weekly preview will post on Monday.
Authors: T Alan, Gem
| BY QUARTER | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Odessa | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Permian | 00 | 35 | 21 | 00 | 56 |
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
no scoring
Second Quarter
PER – Taylor 15 run (Munoz kick), 10:53
PER – Mendoza 36 punt return (Munoz kick), 8:09
PER – DeLeon 44 pass from Vickers (Munoz kick), 6:01
PER – Navarrete 14 pass from Vickers (Munoz kick), 3:31
PER – Cordoza 61 INT return (Munoz kick), 0:24
Third Quarter
PER – Mendoza 29 pass from Vickers (Munoz kick), 11:27
PER – Herrera 25 run (Munoz kick), 5:41
PER – Herrera 62 run (Lopez kick), 1:09
Fourth Quarter
no scoring
| SPORTZ GAME STATS | ||
| OHS | PER | |
| First Downs | 8 | 18 |
| Total Yards | 142 | 410 |
| Rushing | 24 | 245 |
| Passing | 118 | 165 |
| C-A-I | 7-25-3 | 8-17-2 |
| Fumbles | 1-1 | 1-0 |
| Penalties | 9-61 | 12-105 |
Sportz Stats compiled by Terry Alan
