At the end of the first quarter, the Permian football team found itself down a touchdown to rival Midland Lee.

The Panthers didn’t stay down for long as they scored 42 unanswered points in the final three quarters.

Permian racked up 416 yards of total offense and had six different players score touchdowns en route to a 42-7 victory over the Rebels in a District 2-6A contest on Friday at Grande Communications Stadium.

“Every once in awhile, we see spurts of what we can do offensively and what we are capable of,” Permian senior quarterback Steve Steen said. “Tonight, there was a lot going right and we weren’t doing much wrong.

“That goes with everyone on the team doing their job as far as linemen getting their blocks, receivers blocking on the edge, making the right reads and when you are able to do that all night long, you get a pretty solid game like we did tonight.”

Steen powered the Panthers offense that ended with 321 rushing yards and 95 passing yards.

The senior quarterback had a team-high 116 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. He also went 4-of-5 passing for 69 yards and three touchdowns.

With the win, Permian (8-1 overall, 5-1 District 2-6A) earned in the No. 1 seed in District 2-6A Division I and has secured a bi-district playoff home game against El Paso Coronado.

Midland Lee (8-2, 4-2) will be the No. 2 seed in District 2-6A Division I and is forced to travel to El Paso El Dorado for the first round of the postseason.

“Anytime the Permian Panthers get to play a playoff game at home, it’s always a big deal,” Permian head coach Blake Feldt said. “It’s a big deal for our football team. It’s a big deal to our school. It’s a big deal for our fans.

“We are excited about Friday night and being in Ratliff Stadium.”

After Midland Lee’s opening drive, which resulted in 81 yards on eight plays for a 1-yard touchdown run from Colby Standard, the team was stifled to 106 yards on 39 plays for the remainder of the contest.

Permian senior safety Seth Higdon, who grabbed an interception that led to a 6-yard touchdown catch from Zach Jaquez, said the defense stepped up in Midland Lee’s final eight drives. The Panthers collected three sacks in second half.

“We just came together and played with a little more intensity after that,” Higdon said. “We just flew to the ball. We had to play faster and we did.”

In the first half, Ed Williams — who ended with 20 carries and 105 yards — scored the team’s first touchdown, while Keshawn Jones caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Steen.

Brother Miller caught a 50-yard strike from Steen to open up scoring in the second half that was followed by Jaquez’s touchdown catch a total of eight plays later. Justin Hammond rushed for a 21-yard touchdown to end the third quarter and Steen posted the final score in the game.

“We came out as a team and played a great football game,” Steen said. “Defensively, they played phenomenal. Offensively, we got to move the ball a lot.
