The Gazette-Enterprise

GERONIMO — The Navarro Panthers (8-1, 4-0) cemented their reservations for the playoffs on Friday night with a 49-6 pounding of the Stockdale Brahmas (4-5, 1-3).

The Panthers gained more than a playoff spot with the win. Coupled with Poth’s 18-7 defeat of Karnes City, the victory ensures the Panthers of at least a share of the District 28-2A title. Stockdale was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

It was Navarro’s 10th consecutive district win and their 18th victory in their last 20 games overall.

The Panthers again did their damage on the ground, racking up 393 yards and seven touchdowns. Meanwhile, their defense kept the Brahmas in check, limiting them to just 135 total yards.

The result was the biggest margin of victory ever in the 21-game series between the two schools.

Stockdale started the game looking like a team primed to pull off an upset. They stopped the Panthers’ opening drive and moved the ball well on their first possession, reaching midfield after consecutive third down conversions.

Linebacker Justin Newton would put an end to that, however. On a blitz, he ran down the Brahmas’ quarterback, forcing a fumble that the Panthers recovered at the Stockdale 35-yard line. Five plays later, Newton made sure his team capitalized on his play when he went for a 13-yard touchdown run. Tim Gill added the extra point.

Navarro head coach Les Goad said that play helped his team get on track.

“We did not start off well,” he said. “But that turnover was a big early play for us. It turned the momentum and settled us down.”

That momentum temporarily turned back on the first play of the second quarter when the Panthers misfired on a pitch out, which Stockdale recovered at Navarro’s 49.

But the Panther defense made a stand. A fourth-and-four pass attempt by the Brahmas at the Navarro 27 fell incomplete, ending the threat.

Navarro has struggled to stop the pass at times this season but contained Stockdale’s on Friday, limiting them to 74 yards in the air. Free safety Tee Mueller believes their work on defending the pass is paying off.

“We have stepped it up in the secondary,” the senior said. “But we must keep improving for next week and the playoffs.”

The Panther offense followed the fourth down stop with one of the drives that has become their trademark. They drove 73 yards on nine plays, all on the ground, with six of those plays going to running back Jacob Garcia. Newton had the drive’s biggest play — a 32-yard scamper on a third-and-six — but Garcia got the score on a one-yard run.

Garcia surpassed the 1,000 yard rushing mark on Friday with his 117-yard effort. He joins Ellis Wright, who played at Navarro from 1992-95, as the only Panther running backs to rush for more than 1,000 yards in three seasons.

The Panthers scored one more time before the half. Taking over with less than four minutes left, they went into their two-minute offense and effectively mixed pass and run. Running back Julius Tealer kept the drive alive with a 22-yard run on a fourth-and-eight. Tealer also got the score — his 10th touchdown of the season — on a six yard run with 1:15 remaining.

The 21-0 halftime lead put the Panthers in firm command, but the Brahmas have a proud tradition and would not roll over easily. They opened the second half with an impressive 12-play, 70-yard drive, converting three third downs along the way. The drive concluded on a four-yard run by running back Taylor Ware, but the extra point failed, leaving the score at 21-6.

The Brahmas had no answer for the Panther running game, however, and that killed their hopes of getting back in the game. The Panthers answered Stockdale’s score with one of their own, coming on a grind-it-out 10-play, 60-yard drive. This time, it was running back Eric Schleier crossing the goal line, taking it in from the Brahmas’ six-yard line.

The Panthers blew the game open after that. Garcia added another touchdown run, followed shortly by a 10-yard scoring run by running back Kirk Chalmers. The second score was set up by an Obed Rodriguez interception that gave Navarro the ball inside the Stockdale 30. Heavy pressure on the Brahmas’ quarterback from Newton made that interception possible.

The last score of the evening came late in the fourth quarter on a five-yard run by Navarro running back Clay Martin.

It was the Panthers’ final home game in a season where they exploited a big advantage at Erwin-Lee Field. In their five home games this year, they outscored their opponents 251-19.

Navarro’s last regular season game comes Friday when they travel to Karnes City for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against the Badgers. A win would give the Panthers their second straight outright district championship. A loss would likely force them into a three way tie for the district title with Karnes City and Poth.

Mueller knows it will be a battle.

“They’ll be fighting us because they want to share the district championship,” he said. “We’ll be fighting them because we want the district championship.”

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