The Permian football team used a strong second half to slam the door shut on Birmingham Carver (Ala.) and its nondistrict schedule as the Panthers defeated the Rams 41-6 Friday night at Ratliff Stadium.
With the win, the Panthers improved to 5-0 and will enter its bye week before starting District 2-6A play the following week against Odessa High.
Carver fell to 3-1.
Permian trailed 6-0 after the first quarter before scoring two unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 14-6 halftime lead.
“I don’t like how we started the game but I’m still proud of our guys and now we’re on to district,” Permian head coach Jeff Ellison said.
Running back Gavin Black had 19 carries for 186 yards and three touchdowns for Permian.
Quarterback Jakob Garcia went 10-of-13 for 160 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
Wide receiver Landon Robles had six receptions for 86 yards.
Carver quarterback DJ Wade went 10-of-18 for 143 yards and a touchdown pass.
Wide receiver Dimitri Howard had eight receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Carver struggled with penalties, finishing with 17 for 116 yards.
Permian had four penalties for 34 yards.
“Looking at the film, we knew that Permian had a good team but we felt like we had a chance to attack them in a few spots,” Carver head coach Roderick Carson said. “But the first quarter, we lost some key people to injury. We felt like we had a chance to compete from the start but the depth caught up to us. We only have 35 kids.”
It took Carver just a few plays to score after Wade hooked up with Howard for a 76-yard touchdown pass to give the Rams an early 6-0 lead with 11:12 left in the first quarter and the two-point conversion was no good.
Permian had a touchdown pass that was called back due to an offensive holding.
A few plays later, the Panthers’ fourth down run was well short of the first down marker and the Rams took over.
The score stayed at 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Fortunately for the Panthers, Carver’s offense struggled with numerous penalties on its next drive.
The Rams ended up turning the ball over on the Permian 30 with 9:30 left in the second quarter.
The Panthers worked the ball down the field and a personal foul penalty on the Rams moved the Panthers to the one yard line.
Permian scored on the following play, courtesy of a Black one-yard run and Jayden Lopez’s PAT was good, giving the Panthers a 7-6 lead with 5:13 left.
Permian answered back with a touchdown, scoring on a three-yard run by Black with 41 seconds left to make it 14-6.
Garcia completed a touchdown pass to wide receiver Tyran Williams with 10:52 left in the third quarter to make it 21-6.
The Panthers scored two more touchdowns before the quarter was over.
John Paul Uranga scored on a 28-yard run with 10:53 left in the fourth quarter to help Permian to a 41-6 advantage.
Permian will next face Odessa High at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at Ratliff Stadium.
