With a district title on the line, the Blanco Panthers hosted the Lago Vista Vikings in a crucial district game with play-off implications as well as control of the district crown. Although the game proved to be a back and forth affair with several lead changes, the Vikings scored with just seconds remaining and left town with a controversial victory.

The first quarter opened with the Panthers driving 58 yards in 4 plays to score on a 45-yard pass play from QB Tanner Rogers to Weston Copenhaver. TJ Raby added the extra point to put Blanco up 7 to 0. The Vikings, however, answered on the ensuing drive, covering 68 yards in 10 plays to tie the game on a 2-yard run and PAT.

It wasn’t until just before the half that the score board changed again when Rogers broke free for an 8-yard TD run. However, the Panthers missed the PAT to leave the score at 13 to 7. Then, just as the case was after Blanco’s first score, Lago Vista answered with a scoring drive of their own to cross the end zone on a 1-yard run with only 30 seconds left in the half. The Vikings converted the extra point to take their first lead of the game at 14 to 13 going into halftime.

The Panthers returned for the second half and regained the lead with a 7-play drive late in the third quarter to score on a 2-yard run by Tim Goodman. Blanco went for two, only to see their pass fall incomplete leaving the score 19 to 14.

Lago Vista finally began to move the ball midway through the fourth quarter and put together a 17-play drive that covered 90 yards to regain the lead on a 1-yard run by the QB. The Vikings elected to go for two, but the Panthers stopped the run and kept the score at 20 to 19. With the district title in the balance, Blanco mounted their most time consuming drive of the night covering 58 yards in 12 plays to see TJ Raby convert a 32-yard field goal with just 1:02 left in the game to give Blanco a 22 to 20 lead. After a long kick-off return to set the Vikings up near mid field, Lago Vista struck on the first play covering 52 yards for an apparent TD. However, the Viking receiver dropped the ball at the 2-yard line and Sam Isenberg picked up the fumble for the Panthers. Although one official did mark the ball as a fumble, another official claimed to have blown an inadvertent whistle after the ball was dropped. As a result, Lago maintained possession at the 2-yard line and scored two plays later with only 27 seconds remaining. The Vikings then converted the 2-point play to close out the scoring for a 28 to 22 win.

Offensively, Sr. Tanner Rogers led the team with 110 yards on the ground and 144 yards through the air while accounting for 3 TDs. Tim Goodman also did well adding 60 yards on the ground while Colton Childress added 75 yards on three key receptions during the game.

On the defensive side of the ball, Blanco held the potent Viking offense to 338 yards while forcing a Tyler Brown fumble recovery and 2 punts.

With the loss, Blanco drops to 4 and 5 on the year and 2 and 2 in district. The Panthers will be on the road this Friday as they travel to Luling for an all or nothing game, as the winner will be in the play-offs and the loser will see their season come to an end. Kick-off at Luling is set for 7:30pm.