“They outblocked and tackled us,” Jarrell coach Ricky Taylor said of the Panthers, who improved to 4-0. “They were big and quick - thick football players. They were blowing us off the line (in the second half). We had kids in position to make plays, but they didn’t get made.”
In addition to the physical domination in the third period, Jarrell received a major hit when standout quarterback Chris Trevino sprained his left ankle when knocked out of bounds with 3:47 to go in the period. He was down for a considerable time in front of the Blanco bench.
“It’s a mild ankle sprain,” Taylor said after talking to his team. “It scared me to death and also scared him. He’s had ankle problems in the past. I’d say he is probable for our district opener with Academy (next Friday in Jarrell).”
Jarrell, which fell to 2-2, failed to buckle after Trevino went down, scoring two touchdowns in the final quarter. The prime weapon was the arm of backup quarterback Dwight Culp, who completed three of four passes for 96 yards.
“He’s a good kid and he played well,” Taylor said of Culp, who directed scoring drives of 71 and 63 yards. “The kids played hard to the end. No finger pointing or arguing, and that’s what I told the team after the game.”
The first half ended tied at 6 with both teams having 144 total yards. Jarrell had 24 offensive snaps and Blanco had 25. Layton Dworaczyk scored for the Panthers on a 45-yard run and Trevino went over on a 1-yard keeper after a 60-yard play in which Clint Vasquez took a short pass and weaved his way through the defense. Both teams missed extra points.
With the clock winding down, the Jarrell faithful were yelling for Vasquez to go out of bounds, but he made a cut inside and found plenty of open space.
However, the third quarter was Blanco’s playground. The Panthers drove 61 and 63 yards for touchdowns to take an 18-6 lead, running 15 plays to Jarrell’s three during the momentum-changing rally.
The touchdowns came on 1-yard runs by quarterback Derek Tesch and running back Kevin Gray. The Panthers failed on both their two-point conversion attempts.
In the 28-point fourth period, Blanco basically put the game out of reach, moving 47 yards in five plays as Dworaczyk scored on a 3-yard run and Dal Dechert kicked his first of two extra points. Blanco led 25-6 with 9:58 to go.
Jarrell rebounded quickly as it had changed its offensive approach with options and passes. An 18-yard run by Gilbert Avilez and a 56-yard pass from Culp to Daniel Tucker put the ball in the end zone with 8:36 to go. Kris Jensen added the first of his two extra points.
Blanco came back with a 10-play, 83-yard drive with Gray scoring on a 4-yard run to make the score 32-13 with 3:38 to go. Again, Jarrell countered with pass completions of 27 yards to Tucker and 13 yards to Vasquez to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Aaron Mueller.
Jarrell finished the game with 280 yards. Before his injury, Trevino rushed for 51 yards on 12 carries and threw for 92 yards.
Counting heavily on the rushing of five backs, Blanco had 403 yards, including 363 on 52 rushing attempts. Dworaczyk had 112 yards on nine carries and Gray added 108 on 14 attempts.
Neither team turned the ball over.
gwellnicki@temple-telegram.com
