Some points were made in Thursday night’s Amarillo ISD season opener between Tascosa and Palo Duro at Dick Bivins Stadium, even if most of them didn’t make their way to the scoreboard.
It wasn’t the most entertaining or dramatic contest between the two longtime rivals, but it was nonetheless satisfying for Tascosa. The Rebels made a season-opening touchdown drive stand up for four quarters, as they ground out a 10-0 win over Palo Duro, the first shutout in a game between the two schools since 1997, when the Rebels routed the Dons 35-0.
The game never turned into a rout, although it seemed as if Tascosa dominated most of the way, thanks mainly to a stellar defensive effort. It might not have been the most artistic of victories, but that was hardly the point for veteran Tascosa coach Ken Plunk.
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“We’re not interested in style points,” Plunk said. “There were some things we could do, but we turned super conservative and that’s not unusual for us. When we as a team know we’re probably going to run the clock down and take the W, we aren’t going to take chances. You’re always happy with a shutout and (the Dons) have some offensive weapons.”
Even on the most productive of offensive evenings, the Rebels literally stay grounded, and that was certainly the case against Palo Duro. Tascosa threw the ball only twice and ran for a fairly typical 297 yards.
However, the Rebels (and the Dons) were done scoring in the first half. Tascosa had two lengthy scoring drives exclusively on the ground in taking a 10-0 halftime lead.
The Rebels took the opening kickoff 72 yards on 12 plays for a 7-0 lead, capped on a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Coltyn Fulton. The Rebels got help from a 15-yard personal foul penalty.
Palo Duro had trouble moving the ball much of the first half, as the Rebels more than doubled up the Dons in total yardage, 212-101. The best chance the Dons had to score came on their final possession of the first half, when Darien Lewis completed a 35-yard option pass to Kyron Brown inside Tascosa’s 30-yard line, but Arieon Kelley jarred the ball loose and the Rebels recovered.
Tascosa gave up only 238 yards of offense, including 65 on the ground, as they consistently beat the Dons to the punch up front. It was a far cry from last year’s season opener between the two teams, which Palo Duro won 33-21.
“Our goal this week was just to keep our heads level all the time,” said Tascosa senior linebacker Sam Adams, who was an active presence up front all evening. “Last year (the Dons) got in our heads and we let it get to us and it cost us the game. We have a bunch of big guys up front and I love what they do. I think this is a great first game of the season but we had a lot of mistakes, and we’ve got to get those cleaned up.”
While last year’s game was a relatively entertaining, spirited contest, there were still 229 yards in total penalties. The yellow flags didn’t get quite as out of hand as this year’s edition, but the 11 penalties for 105 yards which Tascosa incurred will certainly get some attention in this weekend’s film sessions.
“I’m not taking anything away from (Palo Duro’s) win last year but I don’t think we played very well,” Plunk said. “We just didn’t act right and I was embarrassed about that. We’ve got to look at our penalties tonight, and some of them were effort penalties.”
The only other score after Fulton’s touchdown was Charlie Whittenburg’s 26-yard field goal with 3:30 left in the half for a 10-0 lead. It was the first field goal the Rebels had kicked since 2022.
Palo Duro actually moved the ball more effectively in the second half, but it didn’t translate into any points. Still, the Dons looked capable of coming back early in the fourth quarter.
The Dons moved the ball inside Tascosa’s 10-yard line and faced a fourth-and-four on the first play of the fourth quarter. However, a bad shotgun snap eluded quarterback Julian Reese and resulted in a 21-yard loss and a turnover on downs to Tascosa.
It was Palo Duro’s last serious chance to get on the scoreboard.
“We played a very good team and they executed better than we did and that’s what happens when you lose games,” PD coach Eric Mims said. “You can’t win games with zero points on the board. We had some opportunities to make some plays but we didn’t at key times. The defense did play well and had some key stops against a team which is going to run the ball down your face every play.”
Tascosa didn’t produce a 100-yard rusher, but the Rebels had four ballcarriers go for at least 40 yards. Reese Cabe led the way with 89 yards on 11 carries.
PD’s offensive bright spot was Brown’s four catches for 107 yards.