Go Friday Night

8 and 0, 3 and 0 looking for the City Championship

By
October 23, 2005

Friday night was just another night at the office for the business like Abilene High Eagles as they picked up another win and a couple of records along the way. It was also Senior night for the Abilene High Eagle Band. Coach Warren will be the first to tell you how appreciative he and his staff and the football team are of the Eagle band.

The Permian Panthers brought a team to town with fading playoff hopes yet a team focused on doing what no one has done this season, upsetting the Eagles. Permian has made some great strides to return to the days of old when they were the power to be reckoned with in this great football district.

The game began with Permian bringing a quick defense and a hard rush on Taylor Potts, the Eagle QB. Taylor was slow in getting started as a result of the fierce pressure brought by the Panthers. Potts completed just one of his first 5 passes. Some blocking schemes were tweaked a bit and Taylor settled into his groove. Did he ever! He finished up hitting 15 of his next 18 passes and had a total of 272 yards and four touchdowns. He broke a school record held by Marcus Johnson. The Eagles once again did what they have done often over the course of the last two seasons, get their opponent down a couple of scores and then let their stout defense dictate what the other team has to do and not what the opponent wants to do.

The Eagles led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter on a td pass from Potts to Lyle Leong and a qb sneak by Potts. Actually at 6’5’’ and 215 pounds it is hard for Taylor to sneak anywhere! Permian came back to put points on the board and cut the Eagle lead in half. Robert Murray had a beautiful run around the right end and down the sideline for a 30 yard touchdown that capped an 80 yard 8 play drive, all on the ground. That was early in the second quarter. The Panthers gained an additional 110 yards on the ground the rest of the game. The Permian team ran much of the night with the same style Permian offense that we have watched for many years. It is not real fancy but with good execution sometimes it is difficult to know who exactly has the ball. Abilene High responded by scoring 10 additional points before halftime. Cory Rodriguez booted a 29 yard field goal and Lyle Leong caught another touchdown pass from Potts. This one covered 17 yards. 24-7 at the half. One other play that stands out in the first half took place in the first quarter. Permian had apparently forced a punt by Abilene High for the second series. AHS lined up in punt formation on fourth down . The center snapped the ball to the up man. Jeff Williams and he broke through over the right tackle position and then headed North and he looked like a heat seeking missile as he ran into the two Permian players that had gone back to receive the punt. Running full throttle he tried to run over the two Permian players. They stopped him but both got up pretty slow. I watched the replay provided by KTXS on the internet about 5 or 6 times and laughed every time.

The Eagles expanded their lead to 35 -7 in the third quarter, a 40 yard pass to Leong and a 76 yarder to Potts. The Eagles played many players and Permian did add 14 more points to finish out their scoring at 21 points for the evening. Late in the game the Eagles finished their scoring at 45 points on an electrifying run by Jason Brooks that went for 53 yards. Abilene High had a big night offensively against a defense that statistically ranked very good in this district. I believe that the Eagles finished the night with over 460 yards of offense.

The “D� was as good as ever. Stephen Powell got another interception which I think might have been his 7th of the season. I keep wondering why do teams throw at him. Permian did manage to gain 191 yards on the ground and 48 passing. One thing that will not make the coaches happy is the Eagles were flagged 6 times for 70 yards.

Speaking of the coaches, head coach Steve Warren won his 79th game as the Eagle head coach. That surpasses the 78 games won by the legendary Chuck Moser at Abilene High. Great job coach Warren and congratulations.

Where do we stand in district play after 3 weeks?

This is what we know. Abilene High and Midland Lee are both 3-0. Midland High is 2-1 and Odessa High is 1-2. Abilene Cooper and Odessa Permian are both 0-3.

Two weeks of District 3-5A are left. Three teams will go to the playoffs. Abilene High and Midland Lee are undefeated in district play both at 3-0 Cooper and Permian are now at 0-3. Midland High is 2-1 and Odessa High at 1-2 At this particular point the playoff representatives looks like will be Abilene High and the two schools from Midland just like last season. There is still much football to be played before we know for sure. Odessa High still has an outside shot at making the playoffs.

Abilene High 3-0 has beaten Odessa High (1-2) 28-7 and Midland High (2-1) by 31-20 and Odessa Permian (0-3) 45-21. This week the Eagles play cross town rival Abilene Cooper (0-3) at Shotwell for the city championship. The Eagles will be the visiting team and sit on the eastside of Shotwell. The final regular season game is against Midland Lee (3-0) at Grande Communications Stadium in Midland on November 4th.

Midland Lee 3-0 has beaten Abilene Cooper (0-3) 15-0 and Odessa Permian (0-3) 16-6 and Odessa High (1-2) 35-7. The Rebels will take on Midland High (2-1) at Grande and finish district play hosting Abilene High (3-0) at Grande on November 4th.

Midland High 2-1 has beaten Odessa Permian (0-3) 38-0, and lost to Abilene High (3-0) 31-20 and beat Cooper (0-3) 56-8. The Bulldogs face their cross town rival Midland Lee (3-0) at Grande. Midland will be considered the visiting team. They will play Odessa High (1-2) at Odessa’s Ratliff stadium on November 4th .
Odessa High 1-2 has lost to Abilene High (3-0) 28-7 and beaten Abilene Cooper (0-3) 42-14 and lost to Midland Lee 35-7. Odessa High faces Odessa Permian (0-3) at Ratliff. Odessa High is the visiting team. Odessa High will finish district playing Midland High at Ratliff on November 4th.

Abilene Cooper 0-3 has lost to Midland Lee (3-0) 15-0 and Odessa High (1-2) 42-14 and Midland High (2-1) 58-6. The Cougars are home to Abilene High (3-0) at Shotwell this week. They play Odessa Permian (0-3) at Shotwell On November 4th.

Odessa Permian (0-3) has lost to Midland High (2-1) 38-0 and Midland Lee (3-0) 16-6 and to Abilene High (3-0) 45-21. Permian plays Odessa High (1-2) at Ratliff and finishes district with Abilene Cooper (0-3) at Shotwell November 4th.

“When life’s final season is over and all the ‘wins’ and ‘losses’ have been recorded, it will be the effort we gave that truly defines us. “ Don Hardin, an Abilene Eagle fan.

GOOD FOOTBALL TO YOU!

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