The best option proved to be keeping the ball in the hands of Permian quarterback Rodney Hall.
Hall used his slight-of-hand to run the Panthers’ option attack, rushing 10 times for 137 yards in a 31-15 victory against Midland High in the regular-season finale Friday at Ratliff Stadium.
The Panthers finished 9-1 overall, 4-1 in District 2-6A and earned a share of the district title with Midland Legacy and Wolfforth Frenship.
Permian advanced to the Class 6A Division I playoffs and will travel to face El Paso Pebble Hills at 6 p.m. on Nov. 11 at the Socorro Student Activities Complex.
Hall, who rushed for a 24-yard touchdown on the second play of the game, finished 11-of-15 passing for 97 yards, doing just enough to keep the Bulldogs’ defense honest throughout.
Permian running back Juzstyce Lara finished with 15 carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns, bring his season total to 20.
Jyzaiyah Solis adding a 10-yard touchdown run and Tate Terry connect on a 37-yard field goal for the Panthers.
“I thought we came playing well at first offensively and then we tailed off at the end of the first quarter but then picked it back up in the second half,” Permian coach Jeff Ellison said.
The Panthers, after taking a 10-2 lead into halftime, played eat the clock in the second half and scored on all three possessions after the break.
The only one they didn’t score on was the last possession, when Hall took a knee to end the game.
Meckie McCoy had 11 carries for 86 yards and one touchdown, a 48-yard run that started over the left side and end up as a foot race down the left sideline where he just outran the Permian defenders to the end zone with 10:03 to play in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs (5-5, 1-4) were stuffed on the two-point conversion to keep the Panthers in the lead, 10-8, and that’s as close as Midland High would get the rest of the way.
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Permian 31, Midland High 15
Score by Quarters
Midland High – 0—2—6—6—15
Permian – 7—3—14—7—31
FIRST QUARTER
Permian: Rodney Hall 24 run (Tate Terry kick), 11:08. Drive: 2 plays, 28 yards, :41
SECOND QUARTER
Midland High: Safety (player tackled in end zone), 3:59.
Permian: FG Tate Terry 37, :02. Drive: 8 plays, 64 yards, 1:50.
THIRD QUARTER
Midland High: Meckie McCoy 48 run (run failed), 10:03. Drive: 5 plays, 70 yards, 1:47.
Permian: Juzstyce Lara 1 run (Tate Terry kick), 6:50. Drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, 3:52.
Permian: Juzstyce Lara 9 run (Tate Terry kick), 6:50. Drive: 8 plays, 67 yards, 4:18.
FOURTH QUARTER
Permian: Jyzaiyah Solis 10 run (Tate Terry kick), 5:13. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 5:02.
Midland High: Jake Urias 6 run (Levi Crowder kick), :04. Drive: 14 plays, 70 yards, 4:56.
Team Statistics
| Midland High | Permian | |
| First Downs | 12 | 17 |
| Total Yards | 234 | 364 |
| Rushing (Att-Yards) | 43-183 | 35-267 |
| Passing Yards | 51 | 97 |
| Passing (Att-Comp-Int) | 3-7-0 | 11-15-0 |
| Return Yardage | N/A | N/A |
| Sacks-Yds Lost | 2-20 | 0-0 |
| Fumbles-Fumbles Lost | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-Avg. | 5-38.0 | 1-(-7.0) |
| Penalties-Yards | 9-72 | 8-77 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Midland High: Meckie McCoy 11-86, Jakee Urias 15-52, Stroman Bridges 14-38, Brylee Perez 2-6, Ayden Castillo 1-1.
Permian: Rodney Hall 10-137, Juzstyce Lara 15-94, Jyzaiyah Solis 2-21, Terron Young 6-19, Deonte Bass 1-13, Ja’Quan Richardson 1-(-3), Team 1-(-4).
Passing
Midland High: Stroman Bridges 3-6-0—57, Jake Cunningham 0-1-0—0.
Permian: Rodney Hall 11-15-0—97.
Receiving
Midland High: Jakee Urias 1-37, Athen Dominguez 1-13, Brylee Perez 1-1.
Permian: Deonte Bass 2-22, Ja’Quan Richardson 2-21, Juzstyce Lara 3-17, Nathan Rodriguez 1-15, Gage Murphy 1-14, Jyzaiyah Solis 1-7, Terron Young 1-1.
