Courtesy of Odessa American
ABILENE Playoff games are supposed to be dogfights.
Battles designed to test a team's mettle.
Permian High School's football team put a little extra polish on its resume by blowing out Burleson 56-21 in a Class 5A Division I area playoff game Friday.
The Panthers scored on every first-half possession and raced out to a 42-7 halftime lead.
With the victory, Permian (12-0) advanced to play either Allen or Coppell at 4 p.m. Nov. 28 at Texas Stadium in Irving in a regional playoff. Allen (10-1) and Coppell (8-3) play at 8 tonight at Texas Stadium in the area round.
"We had another fast start in the half, and that was the difference in the game," Permian head coach Darren Allman said. "We knew it would take our defense a little bit to adjust to everything going on."
Burleson chose to play its corners eight or nine yards off of the line of scrimmage, and Permian quarterback Trevor Adams took advantage by completing his first 12 passes.
Adams finished 17 of 20 for 269 yards and two touchdowns to Ryan Rumbaugh.
In the process, Adams broke the Permian record for single-season passing yards, a mark set by Taylor Byrd last year.
Byrd had 2,449 yards a year ago. Adams now has 2,526 yards this year.
"We watched film of them playing offenses like ours," Adams said. "They played off, and the quick stuff was working."
Adams completed five passes on Permian's first drive, and Sherard Ray capped the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead.
Burleson answered with a 16-yard touchdown run by James Owen that tied the score.
Facing a 2nd-and-29 on Permian's ensuing drive, Adams completed a 51-yard pass to Alan Castillejos to keep the drive alive.
Castillejos banged into the end zone from 3-yards out on the next play.
"Coach just called the right play," Castillejos said. "We work on that play every week, and we used it when we needed it."
Burleson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Permian 31-yard line, but this time the Panthers' defense held.
Joey Mendez stuffed Burleson fullback Blake Smith on fourth down to end the drive.
"Samson McClane and William Ritter opened up the line for me," Mendez said. "It was a blitz, and there was no one there to block me."
Permian responded with another Castillejos touchdown - this time from 1-yard out - and Anthony McDowell ended the Elks' next drive by returning an interception 18 yards for a touchdown.
From there the Panthers never looked back.
After Mendez forced a fumble to end Burleson's next drive, Adams scored on a 4-yard touchdown run.
But Permian's quarterback wasn't done yet.
He found Ryan Rumbaugh for a 12-yard touchdown pass to give the Panthers a 42-7 lead heading into the locker room.
"As long as we've got some decent conditions and we can continue to be balanced offensively, we have a chance to win every week," Allman said.
Permian's defense struggled against Burleson's Wing-T attack - Owen rushed for 114 yards, and Smith added 99 - but the Panthers held the Elks in check long enough to build the big first-half lead.
"They try to grind out the clock, and you're just trying to get off the field," Panthers defensive end Adedayo Balogun said. "We just wanted to get the ball back to our offense."
Because the offense hasn't had many problems in these playoffs.