Blanco used stifling defense and had seven players score as the Panthers took the bite out of the Bandera Bulldogs in a 61-6 win last Friday.

The Panthers (3-1) took the opening kickoff and Cade Cress returned the ball to the Bandera 48-yard line. Nathan Tomlinson and Devin Newsome traded carries and moved the ball to the 25-yard line, before Cody Cross scored a touchdown on a 25-yard scamper. Blanco led 7-0 with 8:52 left in the first quarter after the Tomlinson extra point.

After the two teams traded possessions, the Panthers went to work again. Baylor Smith broke away for a long gain to the Bandera 13, before Cross took the handoff on the next play, sprinted to the left and dove into the end zone for a 13-0 lead.

The Blanco defense quickly stifled Bandera once again before using a quick-strike offense to add to its advantage. The Panthers struck quickly with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Preston Guinn to add to their strong first half. The two-point conversion attempt by Blanco was successful with a pass from Smith to Young for a 21-0 lead.

After a roughing the passer penalty assessed on the kickoff, Tomlinson sent the ball sailing through the uprights for no return by the Bulldogs. Bandera started at its own 25 yard-line. With stops by Ashton Ortiz, Alan Rubio and Devin Newsome, the Bulldogs punted to Blanco. Smith ran 40 yards for a Panther score to make it a 27-0 game.

The Panthers kept things rolling with another tough defensive stop. A stellar punt return by Newsome put Blanco in good field position. Newsome then got the call from the Bandera 32 yard-line and ran the ball in for the touchdown for a 34-0 lead with 8:19 remaining in the second quarter.

Brandon Gombert and Deonte Hector made the stop on the ensuing kickoff at the Bandera 24. Ortiz and Carson Smith made tackles, with Guinn adding a big stop with a quarterback sack. On the next play Mitchell Hebert grabbed an interception at the Blanco 30 yard-line.

Newsome ran another punt back to the Bandera 1-yard line late in the half. Tomlinson punched it in from the 1-yard line and Blanco led 41-0 with 56 seconds left until intermission. The Panthers held the same halftime advantage.

The Panthers kicked off to the Bulldogs to start the second half. Connor Cofield made the stop on the returner, before Garrett Wiemers made tackles to help force a Bandera punt. Cofield caught the punt at the Blanco 15 yard-line before the Panthers put together a methodical scoring drive with carries by Cress, Tomlinson, Hector and Carson Smith, capped by a touchdown run by Gavin Young.

Following the Blanco kickoff, the Bulldogs were stymied on tackles by Ortiz, Tomlinson, Mitch Dalland, Luke Johnson and Julian Pesina. Back on offense after the Bandera punt, Cress, Cofield and Hector carried the ball from the Blanco 26 yard-line to the Bandera 27. Hector ran the final leg into the end zone for the touchdown.

On the next series, the Panthers forced the ball over on downs at the Bandera 40. On offense, ball carriers for Blanco were Hector, Carson Smith and Cress, who scored from the five.

Bandera scored late in the fourth quarter to make the final score 61-6 in favor of the Panthers.

Baylor Smith rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown and passed for 80 yards and a score to lead the Panthers offensively. Cress led the team in rushing with six carries for 100 yards and one touchdown. Cross and Guinn each caught one pass. Mason Groff made three pancake blocks. Jaimes and Carson Smith each had two pancake blocks. Leading tacklers were Hector with nine, Ortiz with eight and Wiemers with six.

Blanco makes the short 15-minute road trip north to Johnson City Friday to avenge their loss to the Eagles last fall. Johnson City is 1-3 on the season and has lost three straight games. The Eagles opened the season with a 34-20 win over Florence, but has since lost to Ingram Moore (34-12), Holland (41-0) and Thrall (21-16). Seating is limited and kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.