For a little while, the Permian football team needed to scramble to find an opponent this week.
When their 2021 schedule was first released, the Panthers were set to play UANL from Mexico for the homecoming game and final nondistrict matchup.
Because of travel restrictions limiting inbound land border crossings to essential travel due to COVID-19, the team from Mexico wouldn’t be able to make the trip to Odessa and Permian needed to find another opponent to schedule.
On Aug. 24, the Ector County ISD athletic department announced that the Panthers would play against Stellar Prep Academy of Hayward, California.
Those plans were set until this past weekend, when they fell through and Permian again needed to find someone to add to its slate of games.
When Tuesday came around, Permian had found a new foe to play at 7 p.m. Friday at Ratliff Stadium in Mesquite Poteet.
Permian will shift its focus to the Pirates after falling to Amarillo Tascosa last week by a 40-21 score.
“Coming off a loss, we want to get back out there and make some corrections,” Permian head coach Jeff Ellison said. “Being able to get a game, I think it’s going to help us.”
It’ll be the second straight season the Panthers replaced an opponent on their schedule with a school from Mesquite, as they defeated Mesquite Horn 51-10 last year after their game against Waco Midway was canceled.
>> PREPARING ON THE FLY: Normally the Panthers use Mondays to start installing new tactics and preparing for their next opponent.
They couldn’t do that this week, as their opponent wasn’t finalized until Tuesday.
Ellison said it was stressful figuring out how they were going to get an opponent in on short notice, but they had already gone through the process when the team from Mexico wouldn’t be able to make the trip.
“This is the second game for this week that’s been canceled, we had to do this about a month ago when we found out the team from Mexico was not going to go,” Ellison said. “We just got to work, called around and got it done.”
The changes speed up the team’s process of studying its opponent, but Ellison feels he and his coaching staff will have their players ready to go.
>> WHAT THEY’RE DOING: Mesquite Poteet also had last second changes arise within its schedule that forced it to look for another game this week.
Unlike Permian, the Pirates were already playing district contests in District 6-5A Division II.
They had won their first district contest last week by defeating Dallas Jefferson 63-0 and they were set to play against Dallas Spruce this Friday.
Spruce had to cancel the contest because of COVID-19 in the program and that resulted in a forfeit win for Mesquite Poteet, along with 17 added points for their district standings.
Permian is scheduled to start play in District 2-6A next week against Abilene High at 7 p.m. next Friday at Ratliff Stadium.
>> HOMECOMING MOVED: Permian was originally supposed to celebrate its homecoming this week, but the schedule changes caused those plans to move around.
Instead of taking place this week, all the festivities have been moved to next week and everything is set to start for the school on Monday.
The game against Abilene High will now be Permian’s homecoming game.
>> SUBVARSITY RESULTS: The Permian subvarsity teams saw split results in contests against Midland Legacy last week in Midland and at the Ratliff South Turf Field.
The Junior Varsity Black team came away with a 14-8 win over the Rebels at Grande Communications Stadium, while the JV White team fell by a 23-6 score.
The freshmen teams hosted Midland Legacy and the Freshman Black team dropped its game by a score of 28-14.
The Freshman White team defeated the Rebels 31-8.
All subvarsity teams will be off this week.
JV Black and White will play Abilene High next week on the road at Shotwell Stadium, with the White team kicking off at 5 p.m. Sept. 23 and the Black team playing at 6:30 p.m.
The freshmen teams will host the Eagles at the Ratliff South Turf Fields, with White kicking off at 5 p.m. Sept. 23 and Black starting at 6:30 p.m.
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
MESQUITE POTEET AT PERMIAN
>> When: 7 p.m. Friday.
>> Where: Ratliff Stadium
>> Last Season: Did not play
>> Records: Permian 2-1; Mesquite Poteet 2-1.
>> Radio: KMCM (FM-96.9).
>> Live Updates: Follow on Twitter at @OALeeScheide.
PERMIAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JAQUAN RICHARDSON
Height: 6-foot-0
Weight: 185
Class: Junior
Position: Wide Receiver
Last Week: Caught five passes for 117 yards and a 15-yard touchdown.
This season: Leads Permian with 238 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns.
