The Panthers traveled to Comfort this past Friday and continued their dominant play as they improved to 6 and 0 on the season with a 35 to 13 win. Blanco, which is currently ranked 8th in the state 2A polls, picked up almost 500 yards in offense, while limiting the Bobcats to less than half that amount.

In the first quarter of play, the Panthers took an early 7 to 0 lead on a one yard QB keeper by Derek Tesch, along with a Dal Dechert extra point. The Panthers extended their lead midway through the second quarter when Anthony Vela bulled his way into the end zone from five yards. Another Dechert kick, made the score 14 to 0. On the ensuing possession, Comfort managed to cut the score in half with a 29 yard scoring pass and a successful PAT to make the score 14 to 7. Although the Panthers made it down to the one yard line with just seconds to play, a penalty and a sack, followed by an incomplete pass with time running out, would keep Blanco from scoring its third touchdown of the half.

The second half of play would see the Panthers put the game away as they scored three unanswered touchdowns. Layton Dworaczyk was the first of the second half to find pay dirt on a sixteen yard run. Dal Dechert followed up on the Panther’s next drive with a three yard score. Then, after moving into the final quarter of play, Blanco found the end zone on a 24 yard pass play from Tesch to Quaid Haack. Dechert would prove successful on all three of his second half PAT’s to give the Panthers a 35 to 7 lead. Although the Bobcats scored once more late in the game on a 19 yard pass, the Panthers ran down the clock for their second district win.

Offensively, Dworaczyk proved to be the battering ram for the Panthers, picking up 200 yards on 22 carries. Vela added a solid 63 yards, while Tesch, Corey Dowlearn, Hunter Elrod, and Dechert also contributed to the Panthers’ 377 yards rushing. In addition to their ground dominance, Blanco also picked up over 100 yards through the air, as Tesch connected on 8 of 14 attempts to four different receivers. For the game, the Panthers picked up 30 first downs while scoring over 30 points for the sixth time this season. The only negative on the night is that the Panthers suffered their first turnovers of the year fumbling the ball away twice in the second half.

On the defensive side of the ball, Blanco limited the Bobcats to just 38 yards on the ground, while forcing two interceptions by Tesch and Adrian Young, in addition to forcing Comfort to punt five times.

The Panthers will now return home to host Brooks Academy in their third district game of the year. Kick-off is set for 7:30 pm.