EL PASO Jaquan Richardson was all over the field making big plays for the Permian football team in its Class 6A Division I bi-district round matchup against El Paso Franklin at Cougar Stadium.
Richardson scored five touchdowns in the Panthers’ 56-28 victory Friday to help keep Permian’s season alive.
The Panthers elected to receive the ball first to start the game and they showed why on their fourth play of the opening drive, as Rodney Hall found Richardson wide open in the middle of the field for a 47-yard touchdown to put Permian up 7-0.
El Paso Franklin quickly responded on its first drive when Cameron Byrd threw a 13-yard score to Miles McWhorter and it looked like the teams would be headed toward a shootout.
Richardson made sure that wasn’t the case as he added three more touchdowns to his count in the first half with two of those coming on the ground and one more through the air to put Permian up 28-7 in the first quarter.
“Being able to move him around and move some other guys around too, it just gave him more confidence and knowledge in the offense,” Permian head coach Jeff Ellison said of Richardson. “It helps us out offensively.”
A scoring burst gave the Cougars some life in the second quarter, as they scored 14 points in less than a minute.
First Byrd found McWhorter for a 68-yard touchdown pass, then El Paso Franklin recovered an onside kick and Beau Sparks ran in an 11-yard score to make it 28-21.
Hall would run for an 11-yard score himself to put Permian up 35-21 but the Cougars scored again to go into the halftime break down by only seven points.
The second half saw Permian get to where it has been most comfortable this season, with its defense coming up to stifle El Paso Franklin while the offense controlled the clock.
Caysen Clinton carried the ball six times in the third quarter and Hall spun away from a defender for a l-yard touchdown to put Permian up 42-28.
After the Permian defense forced a three and out Clinton rumbled for a 1-yard touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter to give the visiting Panthers a comfortable lead.
Richardson’s big night wasn’t over yet, as he caught a short pass from Hall and weaved through the Cougars defense for a 68-yard touchdown for Permian’s final score of the contest.
The Permian defense shut out the El Paso Franklin offense the entire second half, generating consistent pressure on Byrd.
“The front three, we started getting a lot of pressure on with those guys,” Permian defensive coordinator Vance Washington said. “That really is what helped us win the game right there, getting pressure with those guys then we can play good zone defense and I’m just really happy with the front guys.”
Washington added that the defensive unit settled in after only being able to generate pressure with blitzes.
Permian will face Euless Trinity in the area round, with details still being finalized.
Euless Trinity advanced after defeating Keller 47-21 at Pennington Field in Bedford.
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Permian 56, El Paso Franklin 28
Permian……………… 28…. 7 7 14 — 56
El Paso Franklin…….. 7.. 21 0 0 — 28
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
Permian: Jaquan Richardson 47 pass from Rodney Hall (Tate Terry kick) 9:55. Drive: 4 plays 60 yards, 1:57. Key play: A 5-yard run from Zach Wheeler converted a short third down to keep the drive alive and set up the touchdown passs.
El Paso Franklin: Miles McWhorter 13 pass from Cameron Byrd (Shay Smith kick) 7:27. Drive: 8 plays 67 yards, 2:18. Key play: The drive started with a 37-yard pass from Byrd to McWhorter and that helped the Cougars cover a big chunk of ground.
Permian: Jaquan Richardson 5 run (Tate Terry kick) 5:10. Drive: 4 plays 61 yards, 1:43. Key play: Rodney Hall broke off a 55-yard run to get the ball within the opponent’s five yard line.
Permian: Jaquan Richardson 11 run (Tate Terry kick) 3:55. Drive: 3 plays 64 yards, 1:06. Key play: A 40-yard run from Brian Mahaffey combined with a 15-yard penalty to put Permian in the red zone.
Permian: Jaquan Richardson 58 pass from Rodney Hall (Tate Terry kick) 1:55. Drive: 3 plays 71 yards, 1:01. Key play: A 3-yard run from Zach Wheeler and a 15-yard penalty set Hall up to throw the deep pass to Richardson.
Second Quarter
El Paso Franklin: Miles McWhorter 68 pass from Cameron Byrd (Shay Smith kick) 8:03. Drive: 2 plays 84 yards, 0:42. Key play: A 16-yard pass from Byrd to Dominic Arellano set up the long passing score.
El Paso Franklin: Dominic Arellano 11 run (Shay Smith kick) 7:35. Drive: 4 plays 33 yards, 0:26. Key play: An onside kick recovery gave the Cougars a short field to work with and two Permian penalties set Arellano up at the 11.
Permian: Rodney Hall 11 run (Tate Terry kick) 1:18. Drive: 3 plays 42 yards, 1:42. Key play: An interception from Corey McCoy got Permian started on the 42 then Hall completed a 31-yard pass to Tabarie Jones.
El Paso Franklin: Dominic Arellano 21 pass from Cameron Byrd (Shay Smith kick) 0:20. Key play: A 29-yard interception return from Hector Facio set the Cougars up for the one-play touchdown.
Third Quarter
Permian: Rodney Hall 8 run (Tate Terry kick) 3:04. Drive: 5 plays 28 yards, 2:50. Key play: A 9-yard run from Hall got the rushing offense started for Permian on the drive, chewing some clock to keep El Paso Franklin off the field.
Fourth Quarter
Permian: Caysen Clinton 1 run (Tate Terry kick) 11:21. Drive: 6 plays 28 yards, 2:19. Key play: An 8-yard run from Clinton set the Panthers up near the goal line, then the running back rumbled forward for the score.
Permian: Jaquan Richardson 68 pass from Rodney Hall (Tate Terry kick) 6:15. Drive: 5 plays 81 yards, 3:16. Key play: Caysen Clinton kept the drive alive by converting a third down with a 4-yard run.
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TEAM STATISTICS
Permian EP Franklin
First Downs…………………… 12……………….. 10
Total Yards…………………. 530……………… 274
Rushes-Yards………… 51-317…………… 20-57
Passing……………………… 213……………… 217
Comp-Att-Int…………… 5-10-1……….. 14-35-2
Fumbles-Lost………………. 1-1………………. 1-1
Punts-Avg………………….. 2-52………….. 5-34.2
Penalties-Yards……… 11-110…………….. 8-76
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Permian: Rodney Hall 12-128, Caysen Clinton 15-58, Brian Mahaffey 4-54, Jaquan Richardson 5-24, Zach Wheeler 7-19, Johnny Martinez 1-13, Tabarie Jones 1-11, Jonathan Viscaino 6-10.
El Paso Franklin: Miles McWhorter 8-27, Cameron Byrd 10-19, Dominic Arellano 1-11, Jordan Morales 1-0.
Passing
Permian: Rodney Hall 5-10—213.
El Paso Franklin: Cameron Byrd 14-35—217.
Receiving
Permian: Jaquan Richardson 3-173, Tabarie Jones 2-40.
El Paso Franklin: Miles McWhorter 6-114, Dominic Arellano 3-42, Beau Sparks 3-40, Ben Bohlmann 1-15, Franco Hernandez 1-6.
Interceptions
Permian: Corey McCoy 2-0.
El Paso Franklin: Hector Facio 1-29.
