Last year, in Permian’s season-opener against Abilene High, quarterback Jakob Garcia was given a rough welcome to varsity football at the Class 6A level.
The then-sophomore quarterback, as well as the rest of the team, struggled to a 49-14 loss to the Eagles.
“I learned that 6A football is really tough,” Garcia said. “You have to be really tough and strong, physically and mentally.”
Things would pick up for Garcia and the Panthers as Permian managed to go 7-5 overall and 3-2 in District 2-6A play and make the playoffs.
Now, 365 days later since last year’s opening game, Garcia has more confidence as he begins his junior season with the Panthers.
Not many players in Permian history can say that started at quarterback as a sophomore and Garcia says that the experience he gained last year has helped him.
“I feel like it’s given me a lot of experience to build on,” Garcia said. “Also, my teammates helped me grow as a person and as a player.”
Permian will begin its season with a home game against Plano at 7 p.m. Friday at Ratliff Stadium.
While the Panthers’ 2023 season did include a 26-13 bi-district victory over El Paso Pebble Hills, Permian’s season also included a 49-42 overtime loss to Odessa High (the Panthers’ first loss to the Bronchos since 2013) and a 63-10 defeat at the hands of North Crowley in the area round of the playoffs.
Garcia and his teammates have been busy this offseason trying to get better as Permian looks to not only win back the District 2-6A crown but to also advance past the area round for the first time since 2014.
“We went into the offseason with a chip on our shoulder,” Garcia said. “We wanted to better ourselves, always wanting more. As a team, we expanded on that and we worked really hard.”
Garcia and the rest of his offensive teammates are feeling pretty good after a productive spring.
“I had a pretty good spring,” Garcia said. “The offense in total, we made a lot of progress.”
Garcia has been busy working on his throwing power and accuracy during the offseason.
“Those are two of my biggest parts of my game,” Garcia said. “I’ve also been working on my footwork.”
The Panthers return seven offensive starters and only four on defense.
Permian’s offense in general should be more experienced this year and looks to be better than a year ago.
“It really is a huge confidence booster having a lot of players returning,” Garcia said.
While the team might be young in a few places, one area they won’t be lagging behind is their offensive line that averages about 285 pounds.
“We have an amazing offensive line,” Garcia said. “We have a lot of experience and a lot of size. They’re amazing.”
During the summer, Garcia went to a few different camps including ones at SMU, TCU and Texas Tech where he said he worked a lot on his mental part of the game and reading different coverages better.
The team is coming off a scrimmage with Abilene Cooper and Garcia is feeling good going into week one.
“We’ve made a lot of progress and we’ll continue to grow,” Garcia said.
