The Gazette-Enterprise

KARNES CITY — They know that they are in the playoffs.

They know who they will play (Comfort), where they will play them (Boerne), and what time the game will kick off (7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13).

But the Navarro Panthers (8-1, 4-0) have some unfinished business remaining in the regular season.

The Panthers will try to win their second consecutive outright District 28-2A championship on Friday when they travel down Highway 123 to tangle with the Karnes City Badgers (7-2, 3-1).

Both the Badgers and Panthers have wrapped up playoff spots. If Karnes City wins on Friday, however, the district crown will be split between the two teams and likely Poth.

Navarro head coach Les Goad says his Panthers have no interest in sharing the district crown.

“We talk about our goals all the time and one of them has been to repeat as outright district champions,” he said. “We are now in a position to accomplish it. We want to do it and then move on to our playoff goals.”

A win would allow the Panthers to go undefeated in district play for the second straight year. They have won their last 10 district games and 18 of their last 20 games overall.

These two teams met last year to determine the district champion. Navarro routed the Badgers in that game, 42-21.

Based on their high number of returning seniors, however, Karnes City was the consensus preseason pick to win the district in 2009.

Except for stumbles against Falls City in non-district play and an 18-7 loss to Poth last week, the Badgers have played up to the expectations.

Their main weapon is fullback Jerome Hopkins, who has run for more than 3,000 yards in his career and gained 109 against the Panthers last year. He has rushed for 680 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.

“He is a great athlete,” Goad said of Hopkins. “He was the state champion in power lifting. He has speed and he’s very difficult to bring down.”

Goad says Karnes City has a “big, strong” offensive line and more speed on offense than any his Panthers have faced. He praised quarterback Clayton Labus both as a passer and in running the option.

“They attack out of the option and they run a lot of plays similar to what our offense runs,” Goad said. “We have to be disciplined on defense because they do so many things. It is easy to get caught leaving someone unaccounted for if you’re not careful.”

The Badgers have been stingy on defense, giving up less than 11 points a game and only allowing an opponent more than 18 points once (Falls City). Goad says they run a split and have four starters who line up on both sides of the ball.

Navarro will have a chance to leave its mark in other ways. They need just five points to break the school record, set last year, for most points scored in the regular season.

Also, Julius Tealer will reach the 1,000-yard mark if he can run for 65 yards in the game. Since Jacob Garcia has already run for 1,105, that would give Navarro two 1,000 yard rushers in the same season for the first time ever.

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Badger Field.

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