The football season is over for the Saint Jo Panthers.
With their 56-28 loss to the defending state champs Blum on Friday in the area round of the playoffs, football season is officially over for Montague County teams.
Saint Jo started the game off about as well as it could have hoped. On the first play Logan Brawner took a sweep outside to the left and ran 75 yards for a touchdown to go up 6-0.
The defense shut down the Bobcats and forced a turnover on downs near midfield to get the ball back. Two plays later Brawner scored again on a 35-yard touchdown run, with the kick making the score 14-0 after only 3:30 minutes of game time.
Blum answered back on its next drive. The Bobcats moved the ball down in the red zone where they scored on a funky halfback pass from nine yards to cut the lead to 14-8.
Saint Jo’s next drive stretched into the beginning of the second quarter. Blum’s defense seemed to tighten things up making the Panthers grind out first downs.
A penalty and a negative play put Saint Jo at third and 24 it could not make up, turning the ball over on downs near midfield.
The Panthers defense had the Bobcats on a fourth and short attempt, when Blum scored on a 34-yard touchdown pass, tying the game at 14-14.
Things started to unravel. Saint Jo fumbled on its next possession. The Bobcats scored two plays later on a 33-yard touchdown pass to take their first lead of the game 22-14.
The Panthers’ offense tried to respond with a pass on first down, but it fell incomplete. Two runs gained only two yards and a completed pass on fourth down fell short of the first down. Saint Jo turned the ball over on downs again near midfield.
Blum scored on a quick dive run up the middle from 22 yards to push the lead to 28-14.
With less than two minutes to play until halftime, the Panthers were hoping to head into the locker room with any sort of momentum. Unfortunately, a fumble deep in their own territory was recovered by the Bobcats, who scored on a short run one play later to push the score to 34-14 heading into halftime.
Blum got the ball to start the second half, but Saint Jo showed some life. Tyler Cook intercepted a pass and returned it to midfield.
Unfortunately, the Panthers’ offense continued to struggle. A false start penalty on fourth and three made it fourth and eight. Saint Jo did not convert, turning the ball over on downs.
The Bobcats picked back up where it was. Giving the tailback the option to throw, he scrambled around and scored on a 23-yard run increase the score to 40-14.
Before the third quarter ended, the Panthers had another turnover on downs and Blum scored on a 28-yard pass to increase the lead to 48-14 heading into the fourth quarter as it looked like the hope was leaving Saint Jo’s side with only 10 minutes left to play.
After some successful runs allowed the Panthers to pick up their first first down of the second half at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Brawner got loose again for the first time since the first quarter, scoring on a 51-yard run. It cut the lead to 48-20 and hoped it would be the spark the team needed to try and come back.
The defense stepped up as senior leader Chance Bennett recovered a fumble on defense near midfield.
A completed pass down the sidelines from Cade Stevens to Brawner for 12 yards was the biggest pass play of the day for the Panthers. Branwer followed it up two plays later as he scored on an 18-yard run.
With the score 48-28 and a little less than seven minutes left to play, there was hope it was still a possibility to make a remarkable comeback now Saint Jo had a bit of momentum.
Unfortunately that was dashed on the kickoff. A Blum player recovered the onside kick on the run and returned it for a touchdown to push the score to 56-28.
Saint Jo’s offense was running in turbo with the tempo to try and preserve as much clock as possible. Still, the Bobcats’ defense only allowed short runs to move the ball down the field, with the Panthers biggest play being a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the defense.
The Panthers offense stalled out on Blum’s 11-yard line, turning the ball over on downs.
With a little less than five minutes left to play, Saint Jo’s defense needed to get a quick stop.
Unfortunately, the Bobcats kept the ball and moved it down the field. Time outs were no good as the Panthers’ defense could not get Blum off the field.
The Bobcats moved the ball into Saint Jo’s red zone, but with no time outs left, Blum kneeled the ball to run the time out, winning 56-28.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.