Bryce Dade (20) weaves his way through the Mesquite Poteet defense.

On Homecoming night, the Princeton Panthers finally ended their long wait for a victory taking down the Mesquite Poteet Pirates 27-21 at Jackie Hendricks Stadium. 

Princeton scored first with 7:56 left in the first quarter when Braeden Ratliff faked handoff play and rumbled his way 20-yards into the end zone for the touchdown. After the extra point it was 7-0 Princeton.

Poteet wouldn’t take long to respond though needing just four plays as Josh Hobbs walked in for a two-yard touchdown to make it 7-7 at the 6:11 mark of the first quarter. 

Ratliff would give the Panthers the lead just before the end of the first quarter on a seven-yard pass to Ja’keylan Montgomery Perkins to make it 14-7. The lead stood through halftime.

Less than four minutes into the third, the Panthers got some breathing space as Presley Self raced in from five yards out to make it 21-7 for Princeton. 

Barely three minutes later after a defensive stop, the Panthers struck again thanks to two runs from Bryce Dade for 64 yards, as he found paydirt from 34 yards out to make it 27-7 after the extra point attempt was no good. 

Hobbs would push his way in from one yard out to give the Pirates some life in the third quarter at 27-14 with 1:27 left in the frame. 

The game tightened up in the fourth quarter when Poteet’s Jordan Urista scooped up a fumble and dashed his way 79-yards for a touchdown to close the score 27-21 with 8:48 left in regulation. The touchdown was even more devastating given the Panthers had recovered a fumble of their own moments earlier on defense. 

Princeton had to make several defensive stops to get the win, but it was Cesar Garcia who sealed it by recovering a fumble with eight seconds left. 

The win snapped a 12-game losing streak in the process and gave the Panthers a 1-0 start in district.

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By Evan Grice  •  [email protected]