After a strong start to district play last week in Ingram, the Panthers returned home to take on a solid Marion Bulldog team for homecoming. Marion was coming off a big win over Comfort, ruining the Bobcat’s homecoming. However, the Panthers proved to be too much for the Bulldogs as a 28 point first half helped Blanco cruise to a 35 to 6 win.

Blanco opened the game scoring on their first two drives as Tim Goodman and Kyle Garrow found the end zone on runs of 12 and 11 yards. TJ Raby converted the first PAT while a bad snap on the second attempt led to Sam Isenberg firing a strike to Kyle Garrow for two points to give the Panthers a 15 to 0 first quarter lead.

The second quarter saw the Panthers add two more scores at the hands of QB Tanner Rogers. Rogers first bulled his way across the goal line from a yard out before connecting with TE Travis McClinton for a 24 yard touchdown. Raby converted one of the two extra point attempts to make the halftime score 28 to 0.

Finally, after almost three quarters of play, the Bulldogs’ Derek Pierce scored on a 1 yard run late in the quarter. However, a missed PAT left Marion with just 6 points. Blanco answered back quickly on the ensuing drive covering 64 yards in just 3 plays with Kyle Garrow getting his second TD of the night on a 19 yard run. Raby added the PAT to close out the scoring for the Panthers while the Panther defense continued their dominant play to close out the fourth quarter and preserve a 35 to 6 win. Blanco’s season record improved to 4 and 3 while remaining undefeated in district play at 2 and 0.

Offensively, Blanco picked up almost 400 yards on the night and 18 first downs. The Panthers’ ground game totalled almost 300 yards with Sr. Kyle Holmes leading the way with 80 yards on 10 carries, followed by Tim Goodman and Tanner Rogers with 75 and 60 yards respectively. Rogers continued his strong play at QB connecting on 8 of 13 pass attempts for 90 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers played one of their best games of the year holding the Bulldogs to just 7 first downs and only 123 yards while forcing three turnovers and 5 punts.

The Panthers will now hit the road for two straight weeks with games against key district opponents. This week, Blanco will take on the 4 and 3 Comfort Bobcats who will be looking for their first district win after losses to Marion and Luling to open district play. Kick-off at Comfort is set for 7:30pm on Friday.