Texas playoff football requires one thing -- a team must play their best to proceed. Unfortunately for the Alba-Golden Panthers, they just did not bring their best game to the field last Friday. The Lindsay Knights defeated the Panthers, 21-0, to end Alba-Golden’s 2021 campaign. 

There is no questioning of effort or energy. The Panthers, as they always do, left everything on the field. Rather it was the timing, execution, and inability to shape the game in their favor, which ended the season.

On a crisply-chilly, clear night at Tiger Stadium in Blue Ridge, the opening kickoff was returned by Lindsay all the way to the Panther’s 34-yard line. A solid combined tackle by Shawn Gaskill and Blake Weissert and a dropped pass left the Knights with a fourth-and-7. The Panthers pressured the quarterback into a scramble and tackled him short of the marker. Alba-Golden took possession.

One the first play from scrimmage, Gaskill carried through the left side for 23 yards.  It was the longest gaining play by the Panthers until late in the third quarter. Alba-Golden managed just 49 yards in the first half after Gaskill’s opening run. 

Lindsay used aggressive defensive line play which included late shifting and frequently sending defensive stunts through the line gaps to stymie the Panther running attack.

Alba-Golden resorted to passing the ball, but the passing game was simply not productive enough. 

The Panthers turned the ball over on their first two possessions. A fumble gave the Knights a short field and resulted in the team from Lindsay taking a 7-0 early lead. 

The second turnover came after the Panthers crossed mid-field. A Knight defensive back made a diving interception at the Lindsay 30-yard line.      

Exploiting the edges of the Alba-Golden defense, the Knights moved 65 yards in ten plays to make the score 14-0, early in the second quarter.

After exchanging punts, the Panthers gave the ball up deep in their territory. It was a critical juncture in the game, as Lindsay took over on the Alba-Golden 11-yard line. The Panthers defense was up to the challenge.

They stonewalled Lindsay and forced a turnover-on-downs at the Panthers’ 20-yard line. The key play came from Erin Hubbard who recorded a fourth-down sack. Hubbard played a stand-out game. Often when the teams unstacked at the end of a play, it was Hubbard who had made the initial tackle. 

With six minutes left in the half, the Panthers started to move the ball. A nice completion from Easton Campbell to Jerry Skinner and a fourth down conversion carried the ball out to midfield. There the drive stalled. 

Alba-Golden withstood a hurried drive by Lindsay in the closing moments of the half. Great efforts by Hubbard, Nick Hallman and Michael Gaskill kept them out of the end zone.

Despite renewed energy coming out after halftime, the Panthers just never got untracked. Their average starting position for their four second-half possessions was their own 24-yard line. 

Shawn Gaskill ripped off a 38-yard effort late in the third quarter, but Alba-Golden could not generate momentum. 

Late in the third quarter, on a fourth-and 11 deep in Panther territory, the Knights connected for a first-down on a very improbable out route play. Not only was the Lindsay quarterback under intense pressure, but the throw was inches away from being either out of play or batted down by a defender. Lindsay scored two plays later. 

Sports has a way of providing perspective and anticipation for the future. 

In the final seconds, down by three scores, Alba-Golden punted. One of the freshmen brought up to the team for the playoff game experience, Cameron Lennon, was on the punt coverage team. Lennon found himself alone on the east side of the hash marks as the Lindsay punt returner accelerated around the edge. He broke down, in textbook fashion, and made an outstanding – and likely touchdown-saving – tackle. 

Can’t wait ‘til 2022.