The Permian football got its revenge over El Paso Pebble Hills in the bi-district round of the playoffs last week.
Now, the Panthers face their biggest arch nemesis in the last 10 years — the area round.
At 7 p.m. Friday, Permian (7-4) will face an undefeated North Crowley (11-0) team in the area round at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene.
Permian has not won an area round playoff game since 2014, when the Panthers defeated Amarillo Tascosa in a 49-28 win.
North Crowley comes in having defeated Keller 42-26 last week in a game that was not as close as the final score indicated.
Most of Keller’s points came late in the game during garbage time.
“North Crawley is a good team,” Permian head coach Jeff Ellison said. “They’re talented on both sides of the ball. They’ve had a great year. They’ve had a really great two years. Their coach has done a really good job with that program and getting them to winning pretty quick. Our kids are excited and ready to go.”
>> REVENGE BEST SERVED WET: It was at Ratliff Stadium that the Panthers played at last week, but the elements didn’t seem to bother them as Permian avenged last year’s bi-district playoff loss with a 26-13 win over El Paso Pebble Hills.
Last year, the Spartans shocked the Panthers with a 45-28 win.
Last week’s win was the Panthers’ eighth bi-district victory in the last 10 seasons.
This year’s playoff win says a lot about how far the Panthers have come since their 49-14 loss to Abilene High to begin the season.
“I’m proud of our kids with last week’s win in the first round,” Ellison said. “Just from where we’ve come from and where we are now, it says a lot. We’ve made it further than we did last year. All those things are a big factor. I’m proud of our kids and I’m proud of our community and high school and all the fans. … We’re blessed to have this opportunity in the second round.”
The Panthers had plenty of time to get ready for the rainy conditions last week as they practiced in similar conditions during the week.
“It was something we had to practice with during the week,” Ellison said. “It wasn’t the first time. We did a good job of keeping possession of the ball. … Our kids did a great job of that.”
>> BUT THERE’S STILL THAT: Since the 2014 season, Permian has come up short in the area round a total of six times.
In the 2015 area round, the Panthers lost to Tascosa. In 2017, they fell to Arlington Martin, then to Arlington Lamar in 2018, Arlington Martin in 2019, Southlake Carroll in 2020 and Euless Trinity in 2021.
>> SOMETHING SPECIAL: There were numerous times last week where Permian had great field position to begin drives and that was due to the Panthers’ special teams coming up big on kick and punt returns.
“If you go back and watch film, teams have been doing a sky kick a couple of times to keep us from scoring, but we’ve been fortunate to get a few good returns last week.”
North Crowley vs. Permian
>> What: Class 6A Division I area round playoffs
>> When: 7 p.m. Friday
>> Where: Shotwell Stadium
>> Last season: did not play
>> Records: North Crawley 11-0; Permian 7-4
