(Jourdanton) — Big special teams plays and a stout defense lead the way for the Navarro Panthers in a 28-14 come-from-behind victory over the Bishop Badgers in the UIL Class 4A Region IV Division 2 Area round on Thursday night.
The Panthers and Badgers went back and forth in the first half as the teams went into the locker room all tied up at 14. A turnover by Navarro on the opening drive of the game lead to a Bishop 8 play 50 yard drive that was capped off by a 1 yard touchdown run by running back Damien Jimenez.
The Panthers got their first big special teams play on a 2nd quarter possession when punter Landun Taylor found nothing but open field on the right side on a 4th and long fake punt run in Navarro territory taking the ball all the way down to the Bishop 40 yard line. Senior quarterback Bryce Nall would score later on the drive with a 21 yard touchdown run to tie the score at 7 following the extra point by Panther kicker Sam Snead.
The Badgers Jace Wilson hit pay-dirt on a 4th and long for Bishop on their next drive, scoring on a 30 yard screen pass to put the Badgers back in front before Diego Chapa ran 28 yards for a TD for the Panthers to tie the game up at halftime.
In the 3rd quarter the Panther defense stiffened. Linebackers Gabriel Rangel and Jacob Arias along with defensive end Beau Brumley and safety Nick Schwarzlose came up big in forcing punts on both Badger drives in the quarter. Following the first punt, Navarro drove down field and scored on Chapa’s 2nd touchdown of the game, this time on a one yard run giving Navarro their first lead of the game.
In the 4th quarter, the Panther special teams struck again as Knox Gallini broke through the line and blocked a Bishop punt at the Badgers 35 yard line. The ball rolled all the way back inside the Bishop 5 yard line where Schwarzlose scooped it up and took it into the end-zone to put Navarro up 28-14.
Following the game, Panther head coach Rod Blount called the special teams plays huge momentum swings.
“(They were) big turning points in the game, both of them. Snead kicking the ball out of the back of the end-zone on kickoffs as well (and) not giving them a chance to touch it was huge. We preach all the time that in big ball games, special teams is gonna make the difference and it did tonight.”
The Panthers now await the winner of tonight’s Lago Vista/Sinton area game. The Vikings and Pirates play at Matador Stadium in Seguin at 7:30 this evening. The winner plays Navarro in the Class 4A Regional round next week.