HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Permian beats late Tascosa rally

Sept. 23 — No lead was certain in last week’s contest between Permian and Amarillo Tascosa.

However, it was the Panthers who came out on top in a 50-48 win over the Rebels.

While Permian had five different leads during the game, they trailed by 14 at one point in the second half.

After Tascosa took a 42-28 lead into the third quarter, Permian scored 22 unanswered points to take a 50-42 lead before holding off a late rally by the visitors.

Permian head coach Jeff Ellison was proud of the way his players fought back in last Friday’s game.

“Obviously, it’s a positive thing to be able to stay focused on the game and not get too high or too low emotionally and keep fighting,” Ellison said.

With the win, Permian improved to 4-0 on the season, while Tascosa fell to 1-3.

“I’m proud of our kids’ fight,” Ellison said. “It was another close one. I’m proud of our guys in the second half because they played better.”

>> ONE PLAY: Tascosa’s Charlie McKinney scored from a one-yard run with 3:59 left to bring the Rebels to a two-point deficit.

On the two-point conversion play, the Rebels again handed the ball off to McKinney, but he was brought down a yard short of the end zone, preserving the Panthers’ win.

Permian managed to run out the clock.

“That was a great play by our defense,” Ellison said. “Our safety got our team to make solo tackles. That was huge.”

>> STRONG SHOW: Once again, the Panthers’ offense had a strong showing as running back Gavin Black had 32 carries for 256 yards and four touchdowns.

“Our running game clicked Friday night,” Ellison said. “We’re going to continue to get better. I’m proud of our guys. We took what they gave us, both defensively and offensively. We were able to take advantage of it.”

>> UNDEFEATED START: Permian’s 4-0 start is just the second time that has happened in the last six seasons.

The other time Permian started 4-0 in that span was just two years ago when the Panthers went 6-0 before losing their first game.

>> TASCOSA WOES: This year and last year haven’t featured friendly starts for the Rebels.

It’s not every year the Rebels start a season 1-3, but that’s where Tascosa currently stands.

The Rebels were also 1-3 at this point last year, but it’s strange territory for a program that usually wins its district and makes a deep playoff run.

>> OUT OF STATE: Permian will face an out-of-state team this week as George Washington Carver High School in Birmingham, Ala. visits Odessa for the first time this week on Friday at 7:00 PM at Ratliff Stadium.

The Rams (3-0) are also undefeated on the season.

Their three wins were mostly one-sided games, defeating John Carroll Catholic 26-7, Briarwood Christian 20-7 and Hayden 40-0.

“They’re very talented,” Ellison said. “They have a great quarterback. They have great receivers. They fly around defensively. They have good linebackers. It will be a good challenge for us on Friday.”

It’s nothing new for the Panthers to go up against out-of-state schools.

However, this will be the first time since 2019 that a team from outside of Texas will travel to Ratliff Stadium to face Permian.

“It’s a big deal for our kids to get to play those teams,” Ellison said. “Their coach (Roderick Carson) was in Texas and wanted his kids to have the same experience and come out to Ratliff Stadium. It’s a great honor for us.”

Permian’s last game against an out-of-state school was against Palm Desert in California, which resulted in a 47-14 victory for the Panthers on September 20, 2019.