Joel A. says: Little things have helped Permian advance

Every football game has hidden plays.

Plays that don’t make it into the newspaper. Plays that don’t show up on any highlight reel. Plays that few people remember right away in the aftermath of the sack, the throw, the can-you-believe-it, I-was-so-shocked-I-spilled-nachos-all-over-my-wife game-winning touchdown.

But hidden plays win games.

Just ask the Permian Panthers. Lately, those hidden plays have been keeping the Panthers alive.

Take a good, long, close look at Permian’s 10-7 victory over El Paso El Dorado on Saturday.

>> 5:42, FIRST QUARTER: Fielding a punt between two Aztecs defenders at his own 10, Brennan Welch crouches, somehow breaks two tackles and picks his way out for a 25-yard return to the Permian 33.

Three fruitless plays later, the Panthers punted the ball away. Sort of nullifies Welch’s play, right?

Wrong. Had Welch decided not to field that punt, those two Aztecs had a great chance to trap Permian inside the 5-yard line.

And if the Panthers are punting out of the shadow of their own end zone, that three-and-out suddenly hurts a lot more.

>> 1:59, FIRST QUARTER: Shortly after the offense can’t capitalize on an interception by Welch, Colby Pyron punts it away from the Aztecs’ 46.

Landing safely, the ball takes off for the end zone, bouncing to a touchback and a start at the 20 for El Paso El Dorado.

Except that Welch is there to down the ball on the 1-yard line.

Thirteen plays later, Richard Murry swats a touchdown pass away from Aztecs’ receiver M.J. McFarland, then blocks a field goal attempt on the next play. But if Welch doesn’t down a good punt by Pyron on the 1, maybe Nick Kilgore’s 28-yard burst up the middle reaches the end zone.

>> 8:10, SECOND QUARTER: Steven Pipes eludes the first pass rusher, rolls right and heaves the ball down the right side to Alfonso Zubiate.

Zubiate leaps over an Aztecs defender to haul in a 40-yard completion.

Five plays later, Taylor Martin drills a 22-yard field goal.

Not that those three points are going to come in handy or anything.

>> 4:54, SECOND QUARTER: Lesley Byerly breaks free on the right sideline on the ensuing kickoff and bursts into the open.

Until a diving Carson Brown trips up the El Paso El Dorado returner and brings him down at the 27.

Byerly’s return eventually leads to an Aztecs’ touchdown. But rather than getting the Red Bull-like adrenaline boost from a kickoff return for a score and time to build on it, El Paso El Dorado doesn’t have enough clock to build on the touchdown before the half.

>> 2:07, THIRD QUARTER: Richard Murry reads a pass perfectly and drops Vance Chavez for a 1-yard loss on a quick strike to force fourth-and-5 at the Permian 11.

Haesten Wood sacks Huerta on fourth down to end the drive. But if Murry doesn’t make that tackle, El Paso El Dorado might have put the game out of reach.

>> 8:11, FOURTH QUARTER: Sometimes the hidden play sets up the highlight reel.

Facing a third-and-seven at his own 45, the Aztecs try to set up a swing pass to stud running back Nick Kilgore in the flat.

Except that he’s not open. Right at the snap, Welch reads the play and shoots across the line to cover Kilgore.

Huerta has nowhere to go. Rushing into the backfield untouched, Ruben Johnson hits Huerta so hard from the blind side that he rips the helmet off the Aztec quarterback’s head.

Every Permian fan worth his or her salt knows how the rest of the quarter panned out.

Nine plays, 99 yards later, Tommey Morris made the game-winning catch-and-run, the kind of play that Permian fans will be crowing about long after the Panthers have completed their playoff run.

But hidden plays had a hand in that win, too.

And a few could come in handy against Arlington Martin this weekend.