Football: Permian rolls through roller-coaster season

Another chapter in the Permian legacy has been written.

Shortly after the Panthers’ 25-15 loss to Arlington Martin in a Class 5A Division I area playoff matchup Saturday, putting the season into perspective is no easy task.

But it turns out that this Permian team had plenty of fight.

“I always have faith in my team,” Panthers wide receiver Tommey Morris said after the loss Saturday. “I always had faith that we could come back.”

Turns out that this Permian edition specialized in dealing with adversity.

Before the season even started, the Panthers lost a star-studded senior class, a record-breaking offensive coordinator and a head coach. Replacing Darren Allman with Gary Gaines was an easy choice.

Trying to blend five new members of the coaching staff into the existing system took some time. Trying to learn the roster inside and out took a little more time.

“I thought the coaching staff worked well together,” Permian head coach Gary Gaines said. “But the most time-consuming thing isn’t X’s and O’s, it’s finding the right combination of players.”

Right after the Panthers’ shocking 38-26 loss to Amarillo High, Permian could have wilted. After all, Permian had posted two undefeated regular seasons and challenged for the district title the past three years.

Before that, every Panthers team in the last decade hadn’t been able to overcome a couple of tough, early losses.

But this team refused to wilt, and even after Arlington Martin took a 25-7 third-quarter lead, the Panthers thought they could bounce back again.

“We kept fighting,” senior safety Brennan Welch said Saturday. “We had done this a million times, but we just couldn’t get it back.”

>> OFFENSE: Throughout the season, Permian struggled to consistently pound away at teams with the run. A week after pummeling Midland High with 337 rushing yards, Permian only picked up 72 against El Paso El Dorado.

And that inconsistency hurt the rest of the offense. Struggling to control games up front, the offensive line gave up 27 sacks.

“I don’t think we were a dominant running team, or a dominant passing team,” Gaines said. “But when we had both clicking, we were much more efficient offensively.”

Forced to make plays in the passing game, senior quarterback Steven Pipes completed 54.7 percent of his passes for 2,395 yards — the third-best mark in school history — and 19 touchdown passes. Pipes also threw a school-record 17 interceptions. More than half came in games the Panthers were trailing.

“Always thought that quarterbacks were a lot like coaches. They get too much credit when things are going well, and too much blame when things go wrong,” Gaines said. “And Steven was his own worst critic.”

>> DEFENSE: Right after the Panthers gave up 253 yards to Amarillo High running back Heath Herrington, something clicked.

“That game showed everybody that we had a ways to go to be a good defensive football team,” Gaines said. “From that point on, we started to improve and get better.”

Buoyed by the promotion of senior defensive backs Carson Brown and Ruben Johnson to starting outside linebacker, Permian’s defense found its rhythm halfway through the season and led the Panthers on a six-game winning streak.

No unit played better than the secondary, a group that had four returning senior lettermen and safety Brennan Welch, the Panthers’ most consistent source of big plays.

Welch finished the season second on the team in tackles with five tackles-for-loss, 2.5 sacks and four interceptions.

“He’s a fierce competitor,” Gaines said. “And he’s confident, but not to the point that he’s not coachable, and he’s got the kind of God-given instincts you can’t coach.”

>> SPECIAL TEAMS: Welch transformed the Panthers’ special teams halfway through the season by returning punts for touchdowns in consecutive games.

For the season, Welch averaged an impressive 15.1 yards-per-return, a number better than the Panthers’ kick-return numbers as a whole.

“As the season went on, our special teams got better and better,” Gaines said.

Like punter Colby Pyron, who kept improving as the season wore on. Pyron finished the season with a 35.8 punting average and 14 kicks pinned inside the opponents’ 20.

2009 Permian Panthers

>> Final overall record: 8-4.

>> District record, finish: 7-2, tied second.

>> Playoffs: Lost 25-15 in Class 5A Division I area round to Arlington Martin.

>> Of note: Permian earned fourth consecutive playoff berth.