PFLUGERVILLE -- After several years of losing to non-district rivals, the Leander Lions, the Pflugerville Panthers showed up on Friday night with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove.
In a contest that went back an forth all night, the Panthers won narrowly 19-17, after Leander kicker Nino De Guzman missed a 44 yard field goal just right with 13 seconds left in the game.
“It feels good to end the dynasty,” Pflugerville running back Sammy Flowers said. “Pflugerville High, we took it home. This is the first time they came to our house in a while, and we just wanted to win for us and the classes before us.”
Flowers ran in an eight-yard touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers the 19-17 advantage. Leander nose-guard Silvio Diaz blocked the extra point to assure that Leander would be aiming for a win instead of a tie and possible overtime with enough time for one more drive.
The final Lions drive came filled with action. Just when it looked like the Pflugerville defense had Leander pinned down, Leander Quarterback Collin Chapman completed screen pass to Taylor Ratcliff for 15 yards and a first down. Leander coach Steve Gideon used the same play, again successfully, later in the drive to put his team in range to score.
With the clock ticking down the Pflugerville defense stepped up and kept the Lions from getting past their 30-yard line. On third-and-ten with about 20 seconds remaining on the clock Gideon decided to go for the field goal. The kick had the distance, aided buy a little tail wind, but drifted right.
Fullback Storm Woods lead the Panthers on the ground with 116 yards in the game and a five-yard touchdown run in the second. Woods carried the ball 16 times.
“[Woods] is an exceptional athlete,” coach George Hermann said. “He’s going to be one of our go to guys, and we’re excited to have him on our team. He’s a great runner with great vision.”
Leander scored first in the contest on a 6-yard run by Jon Henderson. Wood’s touchdown tied the score at seven.
Pflugerville marched the ball to within the one-yard line, but Leander put up a wall and stopped Woods from getting a second touchdown.
The Panther defense then forced the Lions to punt, which gave Pflugerville the ball at the Lion 31, with less than two minutes left in the half. The Leander defense stopped the Panthers from once again and the Panthers went to their kicker. Sean Ianno –a converted soccer player, in his first game—came on and nailed the 30-yard field goal to give the Panthers a 10-7 advantage at the half.
Ianno hit a 34-yard field goal in the third quarter to extend the Pflugerville lead to 13-7.
“He’s [Ianno] cool under pressure,” Hermann said. “He’s going to be a real help for us down the road.”
Throughout the game both teams had plenty of big plays defensively. Along with his extra point block, Diaz had several good plays for the Lions, including a sac. On the Pflugerville side, outside lineman Michael Bowser, and free safety Alex Matlock each got in on some big plays. On special teams Bowser poked the ball out of the Leander punt returnee’s hands to get the ball back for his team in the first half. In the third quarter, Matlock had a big --open field-- hit on Ratcliff that looked to leave the runner a little wobbly.
Pflugerville coach George Hermann said he was proud of his team’s first effort.
“It’s been a long time since we beat Leander,” Hermann said. “It’s always, a joy to beat them. They’re well coached and they have a good football team… Glad we pulled it out. We showed a lot of character and played well the second half.”