Mike and Kim Murphy are the sports writers for the Helotes Echo newspaper. Thank you for your contribution to our website!

If you’re a football fan, what’s the best medicine for what ails you; a dominating effort on offense and defense. And that’s what the O’Connor Panthers did Saturday night in front of 2,699 fans at Farris Stadium as they racked up over 300 yards on the ground and forced three turnovers as OC pushed their district record to 4 – 2 with a 48 – 21 victory against the Holmes Huskies.

It didn’t take the Panthers long to get on the board as Jerreal Minor took the 1^st play from scrimmage, and didn’t look back, as he raced 80 yards for his longest play from scrimmage this season. Following Travis White’s extra point, OC had a 7 point lead 14 seconds into the game.

Four minutes and sixteen seconds later, OC was on the board again with a seven play drive ending with a Darryl Surney run of 6 yards and a 14 – 0 lead following White’s PAT.

White’s booming kickoff sent Holmes inside their 10 to retrieve it and OC’s Malcolm Williams brought down the ball carrier at the 25 yard line. On 1^st down, Jeff Cirotto made a great defensive play as he dove and batted away what would have been a completed pass. On 2^nd down, the luck was on the Huskies’ side as they hauled in a tipped pass, which should have been intercepted, covering 45 yards and creating a 1^st and 10 at the Panther’s 30 yard line. The Panther defense stood strong as they yielded only 3 yards on 3 plays and forced a long field goal attempt that sailed wide.

Following an Eric Johnston punt on O’Connor’s next possession, OC’s Terran McCarns recovered a Huskies’ fumble, setting the Panthers up with great field position at the Holmes’ 27 yard line. Two plays later, Minor had his 2^nd TD of the game scoring from the 11 yard line. White made the score 21 – 0 after the extra point with 1:13 remaining in the 1^st quarter.

The Panther defense forced a Holmes’ punt after three plays, which was partially blocked by Minor, and OC took over at the Huskies’ 43 yard line. Five plays later, Hasan Ali, scored his 1^st touchdown of the game as he plunged in from the 2 yard line. Following White’s PAT, O’Connor had a dominating 28 point lead with 9:29 left in the 2^nd quarter.

The only bright spot in the 1^st half for Holmes came on their next possession as the OC defense gave up a big pass play that covered 70 yards and allowed a Huskies’ TD. Big pass plays have haunted the Panther defense this season. But O’Connor recovered quickly as Cirotto returned the Huskies’ kickoff 16 yards to the OC 46 yard line. Minor, on yet another big gain, ran the ball to the Holmes’ 11 yard line where Surney scored two plays later. The extra point was blocked and O’Connor had a 34 – 7 lead with 5:55 remaining before half.

The Panthers were not finished with their 1^st half scoring as Senior defensive end, Matt McKenzie, came up with a huge sack on 3^rd down forcing a Huskies punt on the next play. Following an O’Connor illegal procedure penalty, Richard Pompa, read his blocks nicely and ran around the OC left end, on a reverse, which covered 31 yards. Six plays later, Minor had his 3^rd and final TD of the game as he scored from the 4 yard line. Daniel Benavides was very instrumental on this drive as he made the key block that gave Pompa some running room and he hauled in a Will Raba pass that covered 18 yards. White’s extra point was good and O’Connor had their biggest lead of the season as they took a 41 – 7 lead into half.

The second half began with the Huskies receiving a Travis White kick off. Just three plays later, Edgar Ximenez recovered a Holmes fumbled ball giving the Panthers great field position at the 38 yard line. It took O’Connor only three plays to score yet again as Ali ran the ball in from the 6 yard line. With 8:34 remaining in the 3^rd quarter, OC led 48 – 7, after the extra point by White.

It took Holmes seven plays to march down the field and score, but not due to lack of effort from OC’s defense. All evening the Huskies seemed to be on their passing game; however, O’Connor’s Evan Perez showed great defensive prowess as he defended the pass this series. In addition, Trevor Seybold and Thomas Murph both had huge tackles for a 6 yard and 10 yard loss respectively. The score with 3:28 remaining in the 3^rd quarter was 48 – 14.

Following a short OC possession led by Senior Taylor Brown, Holmes’ next offensive effort was thwarted the entire way by the Panther defense. Orion McComas and Williams teamed up to effectively prevent the success of the run. Ximenez and Perez also contributed to the defensive stand. Sophomore Joseph Ramos’ timely interception deep in O’Connor territory prevented a Husky score.

The 4^th quarter showed off the running skills of Senior Michael Henderson who carried the ball six times for 20 yards. T. Brown completed a pass to Junior Christian Valverde, who squared his shoulders and made a very determined run up field for a 12 yard gain. Several Panther’s defenders; Perez, Matt Wright, Seybold, Ramos and Matt Ramon made key stops in the Huskies’ last possession; however, with 4 seconds remaining, Holmes scored the last touchdown of the game.

The playoff picture, in District 28 – 5A, is wide open for the Panthers; they could finish 2^nd in district with victories over Brandeis and Stevens in their final two games, they could be eliminated with two losses and a Taft victory over Clark or they could finish somewhere in between. O’Connor’s next opponent is their rival inside 1604, the Brandeis Broncos, Saturday, October 31, at Farris Stadium.

—- Mike and Kim Murphy