When a defense can fly to the ball with speed and aggression, it’s usually led by its linebacker group.
It’s no different for the Permian football team, which runs a 3-4 system under defensive coordinator Vance Washington.
His system is predicated on his linebackers understanding their assignments to wreak havoc on opposing offenses.
“That’s what our defense is built on, the speed and being physical,” Washington said. “Linebackers, that’s the core of the defensive unit.
“Without them being great, you can’t be great.”
Over the team’s first four games of the 2021 season, Washington has seen his group of linebackers make marked improvement in their tackling and their ability to affect pass plays.
Inside linebackers Peyton Sharp and Brayden Quiroz have been productive patrolling the middle of the field along with the outside linebackers Jaxon Dorethy and Caysen Clinton setting the edge.
The group had one of its biggest outings last week against Mesquite Poteet, where Dorethy recorded 14 total tackles, with four tackles for loss.
The experience that Dorethy and Sharp bring from playing on the varsity last year is helping the linebacker corps and younger plays like Quiroz, who played on the junior varsity.
Along with Clinton, Washington gives Cayden Charnik a chance to get some playing time at the left outside linebacker spot.
As soon as he started playing at Permian, Sharp knew that he was going to have to play the game at a faster speed if he wanted to make an impact on defense.
“No matter what, you have to play fast or you’re not going to stop anything,” Sharp said. “To win a game you have to play fast and play physical.
“Coach Washington has taught us that from the beginning and to play with intensity, no matter how it goes.”
Dorethy currently leads the Panthers with 49 tackles, followed closely by Sharp with 43.
Quiroz is third on the team with 41 tackles and the position group is set to get stronger before its District 2-6A opener against Abilene High at 7 p.m. Friday at Ratliff Stadium.
Gage Plymell made his return to practice this week after missing about a month due to an injury.
He recorded 54 tackles as a sophomore in 2020 and led the Panthers with 15 tackles for loss.
The play of the linebackers will be important as Permian prepares to face some of the tougher opponents on its schedule who bring in potent offenses.
Sharp said his mentality when he’s on the field includes playing alongside the rest of the defense like they are his family and maintaining his focus on the next play.
“Be able to move as one and don’t doubt yourself,” Sharp said. “Even if they get a play, keep on moving and move forward no matter what.”
Although the linebacker group has taken steps in the right direction, both Washington and Sharp know there are still areas to work on if they want to achieve consistent success.
The defensive coordinator wants to see his linebackers improve in pass coverage to keep up with where they are in stopping the run.
“I think the run defense, they’re stepping up in that area,” Washington said. “We’ve got to be more physical in the run game and we’ve got to improve in our pass coverage.
“I think that’ll be the biggest improvement we need to make right now.”
Sharp believes the group can disrupt plays at a quicker pace once it improves on reading and diagnosing what the opponent is throwing out.
“We need to be able to read better,” Sharp said. “We’re moving but we need to move faster. The faster you can read, the faster you move.”
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
TEAM
Score By Quarters
1 2 3 4 OT Tot
Permian…………. 21 37 41 54 0 153
Opponents…….. 15 42 20 33 0 110
Turnovers
Fum Int Tot
Permian………………………. 5 1 6
Opponents…………………… 3 6 9
Permian Opponents
Total First Downs 65 64
Rushing………………………… 42…………….. 29
Passing…………………………. 22…………….. 24
Penalties…………………………. 1………………. 1
3rd Down Made-Att……….. 19-35……….. 12-35
3rd Down Eff…………………… 54.3………….. 34.2
4th Down Made-Att…………… 1-4…………. 2-11
Total Yards…………………… 1,694………… 1,441
Total Plays……………………… 223…………… 247
Avg. Per Play…………………. 7.6……………. 5.8
Rushing Yards……………… 1,137…………… 751
Total Rushes……………….. 149…………… 147
Avg. Per Rush………………. 7.6……………. 5.1
Passing Yards…………………. 557…………… 690
Attempts…………………………… 49…………….. 76
Completions…………………….. 28…………….. 42
Intercepted…………………………. 1………………. 6
Sacked-Yds. Lost…………… 4-34…………. 6-29
Punts-Yds………………….. 10-335……… 10-381
Punting Avg……………………. 33.5………….. 38.1
Yards Penalized………………. 275…………… 178
Fumbles-Lost………………….. 7-5…………… 4-3
Touchdowns…………………….. 22…………….. 16
Rushing………………………… 14………………. 9
Passing…………………………… 6………………. 6
Returns…………………………… 1………………. 0
Defense………………………….. 1………………. 1
Extra Points-Att…………….. 19-20……….. 10-13
2-Point Conv.-Att……………… 0-2…………… 1-3
Field Goals-Att…………………. 0-0…………… 0-0
INDIVIDUAL
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing
Comp Att Int Yds TD
Rodney Hall 28 47 1 557 6
Blake Pruitt 0 2 0 0 0
Panthers Totals 28 47 0 557 6
Opponents 42 76 6 690 6
Rushing
Att Yds Avg Lg TD
Tristan Johnson 43 312 7.3 63 6
Rodney Hall 53 310 5.8 50 4
Juzstyce Lara 14 159 11.4 76 1
Brian Mahaffey 12 131 11.0 37 1
Jon. Viscaino 4 90 22.5 75 0
Zach Wheeler 13 72 5.5 37 1
Lucas Salazar 4 46 11.5 30 0
Tabarie Jones 3 12 4.0 10 0
Devon Pierce 2 6 3 5 1
Blake Pruitt 1 -1 -1 -1 0
Permian Totals 149 1,137 7.6 76 14
Opponents 147 751 5.1 67 9
Receiving
No. Yds Avg Lg TD
Jaquan Richardson 9 238 26.4 73 4
Brian Mahaffey 7 154 22 57 2
Deonte Bass 6 85 14.2 55 0
Tristan Johnson 4 67 16.8 30 0
Devon Pierce 1 7 7 7 0
Zach Wheeler 1 6 6 6 0
Permian Totals 28 557 19.9 73 6
Opponents 42 690 16.4 66 6
Scoring
TD PAT 2Pt FG Saf Tot
Rodney Hall 6 0 0 0 0 36
Ja. Richardson 4 0 0 0 0 24
Brian Mahaffey 4 0 0 0 0 24
Tristan Johnson 4 0 0 0 0 24
Tate Terry 0 19 0 0 0 19
Devon Pierce 1 0 0 0 0 6
Zach Wheeler 1 0 0 0 0 6
Jyzaiyah Solis 1 0 0 0 0 6
Juzstyce Lara 1 0 0 0 0 6
Bryce Woody 0 0 1 0 0 2
Permian Totals 22 19 1 0 0 153
Opponents 16 10 1 0 1 110
Field Goals
11-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+
- Terry 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Permian 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Opponents 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Punting
No Yds I-20 Lg Avg
Cade Kreger 10 335 0 55 33.5
Permian Totals 10 335 0 55 33.5
Opponents 10 381 1 52 38.1
Punt Returns
No Yds Avg Lg FC TD
Ja. Richardson 2 59 29.5 47 0 0
Jadyn Pruitt 3 21 7 12 0 0
Kayden Baze 1 11 11 11 0 0
Permian Totals 6 91 15.2 47 0 0
Opponents 4 62 15.5 24 1 0
Kickoff Returns
No Yds Avg Lg TD
Ja. Richardson 7 200 28.5 56 0
Brian Mahaffey 3 102 34.0 83 1
Jadyn Pruitt 1 6 6.0 6 0
Kayden Baze 1 0 0.0 0 0
Cayden Charnik 1 0 0.0 0 0
Brock Madrid 1 0 0.0 0 0
Tristan Johnson 1 -2 -2.0 -2 0
Permian Totals 15 300 20.0 83 1
Opponents 6 111 18.5 48 0
Interceptions
No Yds Avg Lg TD
Jyaziyah Solis 1 48 48.0 48 1
Kayden Baze 2 23 11.5 23 0
Jadyn Pruitt 2 0 0 0 0
Corey McCoy 1 0 0.0 0 0
Permian Totals 6 71 11.8 48 1
Opponents 1 27 27.0 27 0
Tackles
Tot
Jaxon Dorethy…………………………………… 49
Peyton Sharp…………………………………….. 43
Brayden Quiroz………………………………….. 41
Kayden Baze……………………………………… 35
Bruce Woody ……………………………………. 19
Caysen Clinton………………………………….. 18
Desmond Hill…………………………………….. 16
Daveon Walucho……………………………….. 15
Drake Womack ………………………………… 14
Corey McCoy……………………………………. 13
Cayden Charnik…………………………………… 9
Jadyn Pruitt………………………………………… 8
Jyzaiyah Solis…………………………………….. 5
Jace Gilliam……………………………………….. 5
Gage Plymell………………………………………. 3
Bryan Pry…………………………………………… 3
Jose Soto……………………………………………. 2
Juzstyce Lara……………………………………… 1
Braden Pry ………………………………………… 1
Matthew Abila…………………………………….. 1
Tate Terry…………………………………………… 1
Permian Totals…………………………………. 302
Miscellaneous
Sacks FC FR TFL PBU
Drake Womack 1 0 0 0 0
Peyton Sharp 2 0 0 1 0
Caysen Clinton 2 0 0 2 0
Kayden Baze 1 0 0 1 1
Brayden Quiroz 0 0 0 6 0
Jaxon Dorethy 0 1 0 9 0
Desmond Hill 0 0 0 4 0
Bryce Woody 0 0 2 1 2
Corey McCoy 0 0 0 0 4
Jadyn Pruitt 0 0 0 0 1
Jyzaiyah Solis 0 0 0 0 1
Caysen Carnik 0 0 0 0 1
Permian Totals 6 0 2 24 10
