After two defeats on the road to open the season, the Blanco Panthers returned home for their home opener hosting the Somerset Bulldogs. Blanco took full advantage of a packed house and home field advantage to score in every quarter for their first win of the season.

The Panthers opened the first quarter scoring on a 39-yard 10-play drive, eating over six minutes off the clock, ending with a Tim Goodman 1-yard run. Sam Isenberg then added the two point conversion run to put Blanco up 8 to 0.

Blanco added two more scores in the second quarter. The first of these two TDs came on a 30 yard run by QB Tanner Rogers. This capped an 84-yard 11-play drive. TJ Raby converted the PAT to increase the Panther lead to 15 to 0. Tim Goodman added another score before the half on another 1-yard run. Although Blanco failed on the PAT, the Panthers led 21 to 0 going into halftime.

The second half of play saw Goodman add two more scores, one in each quarter, on runs of 9 and 4 yards. Sam Isenberg converted a pass to TE Matt Pepper for a two point conversion after the first score, while Raby added another PAT to close out the Panthers’ scoring. The Bulldogs managed one score late in the game on a 3-yard run. However, even after a successful PAT, the Bulldogs fell 36 to 7, as Blanco improves to 1 and 2 for the year.

As a team, Blanco totaled over 250 yards in offense, with Rogers and Goodman leading the ground attack with 96 and 77 yards respectively. The Panthers also picked up 18 first downs on the night.

Defensively, Blanco intercepted three passes, two by Colton Childress and one by Alex Palos. The Panther “D” also stopped three other Bulldog scoring threats deep in Panther territory, forcing the ball over on downs. As a unit, Blanco held Somerset to just 48 yards rushing on the night.

The Panthers will be back on the road this week as they travel to San Antonio to take on San Antonio Christian. Kick-off is set for 7:30pm.