The Comfort High football team needed to win last Friday at Blanco and the Bobcats also needed to win by 18 points to have a chance at a playoff spot, but the Panthers made sure none of that happened.
Blanco turned in its best offensive showing of the year and defeated Comfort last Friday, 74-29. The Panthers secured a playoff spot and kept the Bobcats from getting in with one blow.
Blanco is heating up at the right time and has tallied 54, 64 and 74 points in its last three games to finish at 4-2 in district (7-3 overall) and secure third place in 15-3A DII. Poth won the district (6-0), Stockdale came in second (5-1), followed by Blanco (4-2) and Nixon- Smiley (2-4).
Comfort ended its district season at 2-4 (3-7 overall) and was fifth in district but lost to Nixon-Smiley, so the Mustangs owned the tiebreaker over the Bobcats. Karnes City (2-4) and YMLA were sixth and seventh in the district.
While Comfort did lose last Friday, it wasn’t for a lack of effort. The Bobcats battled and went down swinging. They were actually leading late in the second quarter by a point, 29-28.
Cash Barrett caught a 56-yard touchdown reception from Omar Rivera, while Rivera later scored on a gallop of 78 yards to tie it up at 14-14 to end the first quarter.
After Blanco pulled ahead, Barrett and Rivera connected again, this time on a 17-yard TD pass and it was knotted up at 21-21 late in the second quarter. Blanco broke the tie with a short touchdown run, but Jared Valadez returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a score.
The Bobcats went for two points and it worked and Comfort was leading 29-28 with 1:10 left until halftime, but Blanco fired back quickly and scored on a 68-yard run and the Panthers had retaken the lead with 45 seconds left before halftime.
Blanco went for two points and didn’t convert, so the Panthers took a 34-29 lead into halftime. The second half was all Blanco as the Panthers outscored the Bobcats in the second half, 40-0.
Comfort didn’t find the end zone in the second half, while Blanco finished with three rushing touchdowns in the third quarter for the 53-29 lead. The Panthers tacked on two more rushing scores in the third for the 67-29 advantage.
With 4:03 left, Blanco recovered a Comfort fumble and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown to round out the scoring.
Comfort will graduate 11 seniors from the team.
