By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolan Ruth
FRISCO— The Plano Wildcats and Odessa Permian Panthers are two of the most storied and recognizable football programs in the state of Texas. The two have a combined 13 state championships dating back to the 1960s.
Of those combined titles, the two met in the semifinals four separate times in 1977, 1978, 1987, and 1994, with Plano winning all four. It was not until the two teams met in Odessa last year that the Panthers finally got a win over the Wildcats by a score of 13-10.
This time, they met on a stage worthy of the nostalgia that comes with a matchup like this. Plano and Permian were selected to play in the fifth annual Jerry Jones Classic at The Star in Frisco, headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys.
“The draw for it is the history of both schools,” Plano head coach Cody White said about the matchup. “I’m kind of a history guy, so when I got this job I called [Jeff Ellison] and he was awesome and said let’s do it. And I knew the old Plano fans and old Permian fans would love it.”
Though it was a fairly low-scoring game, the Wildcats’ offense put on a show under the roof en route to a 27-17 win.
Running back Chance Culley led the way with 238 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24 carries. Kameryn Brown added 54 yards and a score on 15 carries. Through the air CJ Smith completed 8 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, with 5 of those completions going to Kaedyn Brown for 119 yards.
“I thought we played really hard,” White said. “We’re obviously young and need to learn a lot of stuff, but we played hard. And so it’s a good first win.”
Permian looked as if it was going to get off to a big start as an option pass was completed on the first play from scrimmage, but as the receiver was approaching the endzone, he dropped the ball and Plano recovered.
However they were unable to cash in on the turnover and missed a field goal on the ensuing possession. The Panthers then did what they are famous for, keeping the ball and eating up the clock. The first quarter ended in a scoreless tie.
Two plays into the second quarter, Permian got on the board first with a 30-yard field goal by Iker Munoz to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. The Wildcats moved slowly on their next drive and quickly faced a third down on their own side of midfield. That is when Smith threw one up for Kaedyn Brown to come down with, stiff arm a defender and run it in from 55 yards out.
Plano never trailed again. They got another opportunity later in the quarter, but Smith was picked off by Permian’s Cameron Mattingly in the endzone, and the score remained 7-3 at the half.
The Wildcats got the ball to start the second half and went right back to work. Culley led the drive with four carries including the 24-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-3. The Panthers had a response though as they once again drove methodically down the field to set up a five yard touchdown by Gavin Black. The two point conversion cut the lead to 14-11.
Culley only needed two plays to punch right back as he split the defense again and went 76 yards to paydirt making it 20-11 after a missed extra point.
The Wildcats had the ball at the beginning of the fourth quarter and ate up almost half of the remaining frame with that drive. Then it was Kameryn Brown’s turn to find the end zone from five yards out to make the lead 27-11.
Permian was not done swinging though, and with 2:31 remaining, Jakob Garcia found Aaron Navarrette deep downfield for the touchdown. However, they were unable to convert for two points and it remained a two-possession game at 27-17. Plano was able to recover the onside kick, and kneel the game out to solidify the opening week win and start 1-0.
The Wildcats will be on the road next Friday to face the Richardson Eagles, while Permian starts the year 0-1 and will be back at home on Thursday night to take on El Paso Eastlake.
