SAN ANTONIO—Mere minutes after their unreal 73-14 Class 5A-Division I state semifinal win Friday evening against Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, Paetow players hardly broke a smile.
There were a few cheers. A couple of high-fives. A joyous expression here and there. Some grins. But for the most part, the 14-1 Panthers simply retreated to the locker room as if it was just another game.
As if they just hadn’t dominated a regional champ by 59 points to secure their first state title game appearance in their fourth year of varsity play.
Violent defense plus game-breaking offense plus no silly mistakes? It means taking care of business and a trip to AT&T Stadium next week. Paetow plays College Station (15-0) in the state final 7 p.m. Friday.
“We don’t want to take these wins for granted, but we also know the job’s not done,” senior quarterback C.J. Dumas Jr. said. “We have one more game to win. A lot of teams when they get to this point, it’s ‘We’re here. We’ve made it. We’ve done what we want to do.’ For us, we’re not satisfied until we win state. It’s a testament to the culture Coach (B.J.) Gotte has here.”
Four takeaways from the Panthers’ statement rout over the 12-3 Hornets at Heroes Stadium.
>> WILSON GONE WILD
Paetow led 52-7 at halftime, sparked by the dynamic play of senior Kole Wilson.
The 5-foot-8, 160-pounder had 156 yards and two touchdowns on four catches and added a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“We just did what we normally do,” Wilson said. “Credit to the play-calling, and the linemen were doing a great job with the pass protection. The quarterback put the ball there. I didn’t really have to do anything. Just catch the ball and go.”
On the touchdowns, Wilson was matched up one-on-one in press coverage. His speed was simply too much. On the punt return score, he set the coverage up to the right before reversing left and twisting and turning his way to the end zone.
“I try and tell the (recruiters) whenever they come in, that dude can play for anyone,” Gotte said. “He’s such a special talent. A great kid, a hard worker. He’s never shied away from challenges. To see him have the success in the different phases that he has is really cool.”
The Dumas-Wilson connection has been an electric hook-up all season long for Paetow. Of Dumas’ 28 touchdown passes this season, Wilson has caught half.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time,” Wilson said. “That’s my boy since eighth grade. We have trust in each other.”
>> DUMAS REBOUNDS
Dumas had a less-than-stellar showing against Hightower in the Panthers’ regional final win last week, completing three of 14 passes for 30 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. A record-setting performance by senior running back Jacob Brown bailed out Paetow’s offense.
Friday, however, Dumas was at his absolute best, completing 10 of 12 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns to no interceptions.
“Going into practice this week, we knew what matchups we were trying to set up and what run plays we were trying to hit,” Dumas said. “We had a great week of practice, and that’s super important to what we do.”
In the first half, the passing game accounted for 58 percent of Paetow’s offense.
“Last week, we struggled in the passing game, so to see them get back and execute the way we know they can was good,” Gotte said. “We talk all the time about being as balanced as we can on offense. But at the same time, we have to be good in both phases, because if one area is struggling, the other has to pick it up. It’s a team thing. Working together to complement each other.”
Gotte admired his signal-caller’s ability to bounce back after last week.
“To not lose confidence and play the way he did this week, I’m proud of him,” Gotte said.
>> UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Paetow held Flour Bluff to 77 first-half yards, including minus-13 yards on 11 carries.
The Panthers’ starting defense surrendered one touchdown. The Hornets got their second score in the fourth quarter when Paetow had a 66-7 lead.
“We knew they had a quarterback who could really sling the ball,” said senior defensive back Kentrell Webb, who had an interception and two sacks. “That was a big emphasis of ours in practice. The scout team gave us a good look on deep routes, tempo. It made it easy for us. We know we’ve played better teams than them. We just had to execute. We were the better team overall and we showed it.”
Paetow’s defense held Flour Bluff to 96 total yards and had two takeaways (interceptions by Webb and junior defensive back Christian Hurd) through three quarters.
“We go by the mantra of the job’s not finished,” Webb said. “We have unfinished business. We have a chip on our shoulder. We know we’re the best defense in Texas, for sure, and that’s what we’re working for.”
>> THE MARCH CONTINUES
The Panthers have outscored their five playoff opponents, 285-62. That’s an average of 44.6 points per game.
They have proven to beat a team in multiple ways: defensively, with the run game, or with the passing game. Ten times this season, they have scored at least 54 points in a game.
Friday was Paetow’s third game this season with 70 or more points scored.
“Tonight’s a result of weeks and months of work that we’ve put in,” Gotte said. “We’ve got a goal. It’s to win the state championship. These kids have talked about that early on. We’re focused on winning a state championship, not just going there.”
Wilson said players have waited so long and worked so hard to get to this point. Webb said the Panthers are playing for all those who came before them and helped build this program from scratch, rep by rep and lift by lift.
“It’s crazy to think back to starting off in a parking lot, going through (strength and conditioning) camps and running 400s around the median,” Dumas said. “It’s kind of overwhelming. It’s great to know that we get to finish on the biggest stage in high school football.”