STINNETT – There were 637 high football games across the state of Texas in Week 8 and it’s going to be hard to argue that there were any better than the District 1-2A Division I showdown put on by Panhandle and West Texas High at a jam packed Comanches Field.
This game between the No. 7-ranked Comanches and No. 3-ranked Panthers lived up to the billing in every sense of the word, with West Texas High scoring a late touchdown and getting a game-saving interception to come away with a thrilling 50-49 victory that had everyone in attendance on the edge of their seats.
This stunning win keep the Comanches unbeaten at 7-0, the lone remaining undefeated 11-man team in the Texas Panhandle, but more importantly it kept WT High a perfect 2-0 in district play.
It’s also the Comanches’ first 7-0 start in three decades.
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“Our guys are resilient,” WT High head coach Jeff Smith said. “We challenged them this past week about preparing and being consistent. We challenged them about showing up and matching the intensity from the opening kickoff and playing with physicality. They stuck with it and got the job done. I couldn’t be prouder of a team than I am after this win.”
There’s something about this Comanches team, who had won a heart-stopper against Gruver 36-28, earlier in the year.
This epic clash saw 99 total points, nine lead changes and two ties throughout the 48 minutes with both offenses combining for 892 yards. Both teams were stellar when it counted. WT High was 9-for-15 on third down conversions and 5-for-5 on fourth downs. Panhandle (5-2 overall, 1-1 in district) was just as good going 8-of-9 on third downs and 1-for-1 on fourth down conversions.
This track meet came down to the final few minutes, of the fourth quarter.
WT High kept the ball most of the second half behind a controlling ground game led by a punishing offensive line and gritty quarterback Cayde Winters. With 2:25 left in the game, and trailing 49-42, Winters broke free for his eye-popping seventh touchdown of the contest on a 35-yard scamper, cutting the deficit at 49-48. With a struggling kicking game most of the year, the Comanches loaded up the right side for their typical two-point conversion formation where Winters bounced to the outside and beat the Panhandle defenders diving toward the pylon inching across for the go-ahead score as WT High went up 50-49.
With 2:18 left to play and two timeouts, an explosive Panhandle offensive unit that was scoring quickly throughout the game had one final chance. However, on the fourth play of that last drive and the ball at their own 45-yard with 1:35 remaining, a Broxton Robinson pass across the middle was popped in the air by Comanche defender TJ Riggs and intercepted by Landen McLaughlin, sealing the dramatic win for the Comanches.
“The interception at the end was huge,” Smith said. “We had Panhandle on their heels a little bit and we changed our front a little bit and gave ourselves a chance to make a play and we made it.”
Panhandle head coach Dane Ashley took responsibility on that final offensive play, regretting the decision on his play call.
“I thought we could go down and score the way the offense was playing,” Ashley said. “I probably shouldn’t have called the play action pass when I did. I probably should have kept running the ball and that was a bad choice by me.”
This game started how it ended. With fireworks. The first quarter saw 28 points with each team firing on all cylinders. Panhandle jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a Robinson 40-yard TD toss to Landen Andrews only to see Winters answer on the ensuing possession and that’s how it went all the way to the end. That’s the way this story played out with the Panthers scoring, the Comanches answering until WT High was able to gut out the victory.
“This team is special,” Winters said. “There aren’t many. teams that beat Gruver and Panhandle in the same year. This was a big accomplishment. This wasn’t just big for us as a team it was big for the community.”
Winters was magnificent, putting the Comanches on his back rushing for an incredible 369 of WT High’s 436 yards. Winters, with lineman Ty Buck and Deacon Smith leading the way, scored all seven touchdowns and accounted for four two-point conversions in one of the best performances all season.
“The offensive line played their butts off,” Winters said. “I told the guys all week this game was going to be won up front. Panhandle is huge up front and have some great All-State players. I felt we were just as good and we had to go prove it and we did.”
Smith echoed Winters’ comment.
“Cayde is the ultimate team guy,” Smith said. “He trusts everyone. He got behind the big guys up front and let them do the work and when he got a seam he took it to the house. If the holes weren’t there, Cayde is good enough to make people miss and get into space and go score and he did that.”
Robinson’s outing will get overshadowed by two interceptions, but the Army commit did all he could for the Panthers throwing for 192 yards on 11-of-17 attempts with three touchdowns. Robinson also rushed for 92 yards on 14 carries with three more scores. Panhandle running back Landen Krogh added 102 yards on 11 carries.
