The Blanco Panthers closed out their non-district schedule on the road at Sonora. While Blanco looked to enter district play on a winning note, Broncos’ QB Ethan Morriss had different plans as he accounted for almost 500 yards in total offense and 5 TD’s to hand the Panthers their third loss of the year.

The first quarter saw the Panthers jump out to a quick 12 to 0 lead on two Tim Goodman touchdown runs of 66 and 15 yards. Blanco struggled on their extra point attempts, missing both, while converting on just 1 of 6 for the night. Although Sonora struggled in the first quarter, the second quarter saw them rebound quickly, scoring 19 unanswered points to take a 19 to 12 lead on two Ethan Morriss runs of 1 and 18 yards and another score via a 34 yard interception return. The Panthers struck back late in the quarter when Sr. Kyle Garrow scored on a 4 yard run. TJ Raby converted the PAT to tie the game at halftime.

The third quarter saw each team trade TD’s with Blanco scoring first on a 43 yard interception return by LB Ethan Evans. Again, Blanco missed the extra point, but had reclaimed the lead at 25 to 19. The Broncos wasted little time in answering the Panthers TD with one of their own with Morriss adding another from 4 yards out. Sonora converted the PAT to jump ahead 26 to 25. As the third quarter came to an end, FB Tim Goodman added to his solid performance with a third TD from 7 yards out to put the Panthers back on top going into the fourth quarter at 31 to 26. Blanco continued its strong offensive showing, scoring again in the final quarter of play when QB Tanner Rogers connected with TE Travis McClinton on a 79 yard pass play giving the Panthers a 37 to 26 lead with just over 7 minutes remaining in the game. Sonora scored quickly on their next possession with Morriss breaking an 80 yard run closing the gap at 37 to 32. Then, after forcing a Blanco punt, the Broncos took over on their own 20 yard line with less than 2 minutes to play and no time outs. Sonora converted three third and longs along with a crucial fourth and ten to keep the drive alive before hitting two long passes to put the ball on the Panther 1 yard line, where Morriss ended up scoring on a 1 yard run around the right side with time expired giving the Broncos a 38 to 37 victory.

For the night, the Panthers totaled over 380 yards in offense with sophomore Tim Goodman leading the way with 192 yards on the ground on 23 carries while also scoring 3 touchdowns. Tanner Rogers also added to the total with 132 yards through the air. Defensively, Blanco forced 5 interceptions with Gavin Garrow accounting for 2, while Sam Isenberg, Ethan Evans and Ecce Bradfute each got one.

At 2 and 3 on the year, the Panthers will be open this week as they prepare for their district opener on Friday, October 8 when they travel to Ingram to take on the Warriors at 7:30 p.m.