The Saint Jo Panthers could not pull off another playoff upset on Friday night against second ranked Abbott.
Abbott was able to snowball a huge second quarter run into winning 70-24, ending the game early in the second quarter due to mercy-rule.
Saint Jo knew it had a tough game in front, but it was the third game in a row for the team that felt like it could compete with any team in the state. Saint Jo had upset the 10th ranked team in the state the previous week, Avalon. The team was 9-0 to start the season before falling to Union Hill in a winnable game in the finale to lose its shot at the district title and a one-seed which would have made its playoff schedule easier.
Abbott started the season ranked second after returning everyone besides its coach from a team that went 12-1, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual state champion Gordon. So far, the team had lived up to that ranking, going undefeated with only one game not ending early due to mercy rule.
Abbott jumped out to a two touchdown lead with two rushing touchdowns, leading 16-0. Saint Jo’s offense answered as Devin Stewart found Jayden Curry for a nine-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 16-8.
Abbott answered with a 28-yard touchdown pass to go up 22-8 heading into the second quarter.
Saint Jo was able to start the second quarter on a good note. The offense moved down the field and Stewart eventually scrambled for a 14-yard touchdown run. It made it a one-score game again, with Saint Jo trailing just 22-16.
Abbott was able to go back up by two scores with a 26-yard touchdown run to make it 30-16. Still, Saint Jo’s offense had some explosion as Stewart found Lee Yeley for a 50-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 30-24.
It looked Saint Jo was in another high scoring dogfight like it was last week as long as its offense could keep executing at a high level. Unfortunately, even with almost half of the second quarter gone, this is where the game turned for the worse for Saint Jo.
Abbott answered with a quick 45-yard touchdown pass. After kicking the ball deep back to Saint Jo, the Abbott defense forced a turnover, recovering a fumble at the six-yard line. The team then converted the turnover into a short touchdown run as Abbott led 46-24.
There was still enough time for Saint Jo to try and score before halftime. The team drove down the field before facing a fourth down at Abbott’s 12-yard line. Heaving up a prayer to the end zone, Abbott intercepted the pass in the end zone for a turnover.
The team then capitalized on having the ball again despite having less than a minute before halftime. Abbott scored on a 60-yard touchdown run to make 54-24.
With less than a minute left, that was enough time for more things to go wrong. A long kickoff pinned Saint Jo at its nine-yard line. Abbott’s defense was quickly able to drive the offense back for a safety, scoring it two points and getting the ball back.
Saint Jo was able to pin Abbott back to its own eight-yard line and finally felt a little safe with only seconds left before halftime. Then Abbott connected on a 72-yard touchdown pass.
Abbott led 64-24 at halftime as the shell-shocked Saint Jo team tried to recover.
In what was a one-score game midway through the second quarter, Abbott had scored 34 unanswered points, including 24 in the final minute of play.
Saint Jo was going to have to get back into it with its defense since it was going to be kicking off to start the second half. Abbott only needed to score once more to end the game due to the 45-point mercy-rule.
Unfortunately, Saint Jo did not recover the attempted onside kick and the defense could not slow down Abbott. The team scored on a 41-yard run for the final play of the game.
Abbott won 70-24 with eight minutes to play in the third quarter.

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