HOUSTON — Just four years after the school opened, the Paetow Panthers are state champs! The Panthers beat College Station, 27-24, in an overtime thriller Friday night to claim the 5A Division I Texas championship.
Jacob Brown scored on a short touchdown run in Paetow's first overtime possession after College Station kicked a field goal on theirs to seal the win.
The key play came just before that, though, when Paetow went for it on fourth-and-one deep in Cougars territory and made it. Had they not, College Station would have won.
Game updates
- College Station scored first with an 80-yard scoring strike from Jett Huff to Traylen Suel.
- In the second quarter, Paetow came back to tie it at 7 as Bryan Del Cid punched it in from 6 yards out.
- College Station went ahead, 14-7, on Marquise Collins’ 37-yard rushing touchdown.
- But Paetow answered with Gene Kendall’s 1-yard touchdown run to tie it up at 14 apiece.
- There was no scoring in the third quarter, but Paetow took a 21-14 lead at the start of the fourth quarter when CJ Dumas scored from one yard out.
- With just over 4 minutes left in the game, Marquise Collins broke from on a 70-yard run to score and tie things up at 21.
- In overtime, Jacob Brown scored on a short run to give Paetow the championship.
Paetow on a roll
Paetow has been racking up points en route to the matchup. Last week, they beat Flour Bluff, 73-14. The week before, they beat Hightower, 35-12. Before that, they beat Cedar Park 65-14.
While Paetow is going for a title tonight, tomorrow is North Shore's turn. The Mustangs go up against Duncanville for the third time in four years in the Conference 6A Division I championship game.