Football: Panthers' final stand knocks Bulldogs out of playoffs

This time the Permian defense only needed to make one stop.

One stop to preserve the lead the Panthers offense pounded out against Midland High. One stop to send the Bulldogs packing without a playoff berth and complete the pact Permian made after its loss to Odessa High.

And this time Permian swarmed over Midland High’s last-gasp effort to clinch a 35-31 victory that eliminated the Bulldogs from playoff contention.

Facing a fourth-and-12 at the Permian 48, Jack Bolger tossed a pass into the flat to Middleton, who started up the right sideline, only to face a wall of Panthers defenders and cut back looking for the first down with 2:05 to go.

He never made it.

“The offense had us on their backs the whole time,” Permian safety Colby Pyron said. “It was up to us to make a play for them.”

Trailing 17-14 at the half, Pyron made the stop that gave the Panthers offense a chance to start rolling.

With Midland High (5-5, 5-4 District 2-5A) driving in Permian territory, Bolger slipped a pass out into the flat to Jamaal Sanders, who took a vicious hit from Richard Murry to pop the ball loose.

Pyron picked it off.

And the Panthers’ offensive line took over.

“It’s always been on our backs,” left tackle Austin O’Connell said. “It’s no different than any other week, and we just had to pull something out from deep inside us and win the game.”

Four plays later, Felix Neboh took a handoff on a reverse, cut up the middle of the field and sped away from the Bulldogs’ secondary for a 36-yard touchdown run to give Permian a 21-14 lead.

Midland High answered by ending the third quarter with a 16-play, 69-yard drive that ate up more than six minutes and ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Bolger.

But Permian (7-3, 7-2) had found its rhythm in the running game.

Mixing carries by quarterback Steven Pipes, who had 106 yards on 15 carries, and DeAnthony Fay, who racked up 122 yards on 11 carries, Permian rammed the ball down the gullet of the Bulldogs’ defense.

In seven plays, Permian only had one carry that covered less than 10 yards, and Morris scored from 10 yards out to take back the lead, 28-24.

“That’s the best the offensive line has played all year,” Pipes said. “For the running backs and for me, we were just able to run power at them over and over again.”

Bolger answered with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Antwan Goodley that gave the Bulldogs a 31-28 lead with 7:24 left.

Facing a fourth-and-1 at their own 29, the Panthers coaching staff decided to roll the dice. Sending in the Panthers “Tandem” formation — a power-I that features defensive ends Tra Fay and Jesse Baeza blocking for Morris — the 200-pound Morris pounded his way over the right side for 6 yards and a first down.

Morris finished with 66 rushing yards, 35 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Most of his rushing yards came behind Fay and Baeza.

“Tra and Jesse blocked it perfect,” Morris said. “Those holes, there was no way I wasn’t getting the first down.”

Pipes finished off the drive by tossing an 11-yard slant to Talon Smith for the game-winning touchdown with 3:52 left in the game.

Midland High had a playoff berth on the line. But Permian wanted to preserve a pact the Panthers made after dropping a heartbreaking loss to Odessa High that left Permian reeling at 2-3.

“We talked about it after the OHS game,” Pyron said. “We wanted to finish the season with no more losses.”

A minute later, the defense stopped Middleton.

Consider the mission accomplished.

Permian 35, Midland High 31

Midland High               10    7    0  14     — 31

Permian                         7    7    7  14     — 35

First Quarter

Midland High: Corey Street 1 run (Grant Sirgo kick), 6:31. Drive: 11 plays, 58 yards, 2:28. Key plays: Tyler Middleton 10 run on third-and-10 at the Permian 13.

Permian: Tommey Morris 8 run (Taylor Martin kick), 3:48. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 2:43. Key plays: Steven Pipes 28 run on first-and-10 at the Permian 32.

Midland High: Grant Sirgo 21 field goal, 37.4. Drive: 7 plays, 58 yards, 3:11. Key plays: Jamaal Sanders 21 pass from Jack Bolger on first-and-10 at the Midland High 49.

Second Quarter

Midland High: Kierre Woods 15 run (Grant Sirgo kick), 8:54. Drive: 6 plays, 59 yards, 2:12. Key plays: Kierre Woods 19 run on second play of drive.

Permian: DeAnthony Fay 31 run (Taylor Martin kick), 3:25. Drive: 5 plays, 69 yards, 2:12. Key plays: Steven Pipes 15 run on first play of drive.

Third Quarter

Permian:  Felix Neboh 36 run (Taylor Martin kick), 8:24. Drive: 4 plays, 62 yards, 1:13. Key plays: Tommey Morris 23 pass from Steven Pipes on third-and-2 at the Permian 46.

Fourth Quarter

Midland High:  Jack Bolger 1 run (Grant Sirgo kick), 10:41. Drive: 16 plays, 69 yards, 6:24. Key plays: Erick Collier 9 run on fourth-and-5 at the Permian 45; Kierre Woods 13 run on fourth-and-2 at the Permian 18.

Permian: Tommey Morris 10 run (Taylor Martin kick), 8:14. Drive: 7 plays, 81 yards, 2:27. Key plays: Steven Pipes 16 run on first play of drive.

Midland High: Antwan Goodley 32 pass from Jack Bolger (Grant Sirgo kick), 7:24. Drive: 3 plays, 65 yards, 0:50. Key plays: Tyler Middleton 32 run on second play of drive.

Permian: Talon Smith 11 pass from Steven Pipes (Taylor Martin kick), 3:52. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 3:32. Key plays: Tommey Morris 6 run on fourth-and-1 at the Permian 29.

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TEAM STATISTICS

                           Midland High           Permian

First downs......................... 21                    21

Total yards....................... 431                  424

Rushes-yards............. 39-247             38-337

Passing............................ 184                    87

Comp-Att-Int.............. 17-27-0             7-14-0

Sacked-Yards Lost............ 2-4                   2-8

Punt Returns................... 1-13                   0-0

Kickoff Returns................ 2-22                 4-46

Punts-Avg..................... 3-33.7              5-43.0

Fumbles-Lost.................... 1-0                   2-0

Penalties-Yards.............. 4-30                 2-15

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Midland High

Tyler Middleton 11-98, Kierre Woods 8-69, Jack Bolger 10-36, Corey Street 8-27, Erick Collier 1-9, Jerome Ellis 1-8.

Permian

DeAnthony Fay 11-122, Steven Pipes 15-106, Tommey Morris 9-66, Felix Neboh 1-36, Eli Torres 2-7.

PASSING

Midland High

Jack Bolger 17-26-1-184, Kierre Woods 0-1-0-0.

Permian

Steven Pipes 7-14-0-87.

RECEIVING

Midland High

Antwan Goodley 7-80, Kendahl Johnson 4-46, Jake Malone 2-24, Jamaal Sanders 1-21, Corey Street 1-7, Tyler Middleton 2-4.

Permian

Tommey Morris 2-35, Felix Neboh 1-24, Alfonso Zubiate 2-15, Talon Smith 1-11, Eli Torres 1-2.

INTERCEPTIONS

Midland High

None.

Permian

Colby Pyron 1-0.