Last Friday the Permian Panthers took the win against crosstown rival Odessa High in the first game of District play.

    The 42-10 victory did not look like it was going to come easy due to a kickoff return for 70 yards by Odessa High’s Julian Galindo, after a long touchdown run by Permian running back senior Ed Williams. It set the score at 7-7 within the first two minutes of the game.

     However, the Panthers remained focused and stuck to the game plan.

     “We made mistakes on special teams,” head coach Jeff Ellison said. “As far as the focus it didn’t really change. We just did a better job at limiting the mistakes.”

     Even though senior quarterback Peyton Powell had a huge game for the Panthers which saw him rush for three touchdowns and throw for one, he still didn’t think he played to the best of his ability.

    “I could’ve played a lot better,” Powell said. “I made some dumb decisions and I need to cut down on the turnovers.”

     Even due to his own criticism he received high praise from his coach.

    “To this point I thought this was a pretty great game for Peyton,” Ellison said. “He played a complete football game.”

   The Panthers defense had a strong performance holding the Bronchos to only three points offensively.

   Junior safety Chase Stell said, “This gives us a great amount of confidence. It always feels good when you can hold a team to only three.”

   Stell had a good peformance making a lot of important tackles and deflecting two deep passes.

   “I felt I did my part to help the team get the win,” Stell said. “I just really need to focus on tackling a whole lot more.”

   The team heads to a tough district game tonight against Amarillo Tascosa with the same confidence.

   “Our confidence doesn’t really change,” Powell said. “We know how good we are.”