It would be easy for the Permian football team to look through the Class 6A Division I playoff brackets and start to think “what if?”
They are, after all, 16-to-18-year-olds excited about the opportunity to continue their season into November.
So, as they head west to face El Paso Pebbles Hills in the bi-district round to kick off this year’s postseason run, letting the mind wander and conjuring up an image of playing in Arlington just before Christmas isn’t that difficult to imagine.
Thinking that way, however, does not give the host Spartans the respect they’ve earned in winning a tough, nine-team district.
Which is something Permian must do because, when all is said and done, this is a trap game for the Panthers.
This might be the first round of the playoffs for everyone, but the logo on the side of the Panthers’ helmets makes it a lot more meaningful for their opposition.
Taking down one of the most storied programs in Texas football history?
Even if they get bounced the next week, they still have that feather in their cap.
Throw away all the previous success against El Paso schools, including a victory against Pebble Hills to open the 2021 season.
Toss the previous playoff success against the Sun City schools as well, with the Panthers owning a gaudy 22-2-1 mark in those matchups.
There have been six times that Permian has been eliminated on the opening weekend of the playoffs and El Paso schools are responsible for two of those losses:
>> El Paso Ysleta with a 31-21 victory in 1960, the first year Permian made the playoffs, and
>> El Paso El Dorado, which defeated the Panthers 34-33 to open the 2012 postseason.
Which is why the Panthers have to be 100-percent focused on the Spartans, for 48 minutes, on what will turn into a chilly night along the border.
They have to impose their will from the start, using an offensive line that has dominated games this season, to set the tone and let the Spartans’ defenders understand that it is going to be a long night.
Time-consuming drives that not only eat the clock, but at the psyche of the 11 players on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
Equally important is the physicality that the Permian defense puts on display.
Opposing coaches have seen the video, they know that the Panthers are bringing heat on practically every play with a solid defensive line and active group of linebackers.
Permian needs to make the Spartans one-dimensional, their heads on a swivel as they try to pick up the next attack.
Create no space, no breathing room.
The Panthers have the athletes capable of making a long run, gifted players routinely making plays all over the field, offensively and defensively.
They also have some of the strongest-willed leaders in recent memory, which in the end could be the tipping point.
Worry about this one.
There will be plenty of time to think about who’s next on the long bus ride home.
