Pre/Game: Blanco Panthers @ Canyon Lake Hawks

CL Hawks and Panthers will always have full stands as this picture shows in last year’s game in Blanco

             Blanco Panthers    @   Canyon Lake Hawks     7:30pm
                     0-0                0-0

 History: Panthers lead series over Hawks, 4-3.
 2008  CL Hawks   00   Blanco   55
 2009  CL Hawks   21   Blanco   14
 2010  CL Hawks   07   Blanco   12
 2011  CL Hawks   14   Blanco   07
 2012  CL Hawks   26   Blanco   21
 2013  CL Hawks   06   Blanco   13
 2014  CL Hawks   07   Blanco   35

Canyon Lake will begin their 8th year of football and with a win tie the all-time record with Blanco Panthers, as the Hawks are on the short end of that stat, 3-4.

Blanco was a very accomplished team last year with a 35-7 win over Canyon Lake, the Panthers, proved they were the real deal by going a salty, 14-1 losing in the 3A Division II State Semifinals to Newton.

The Panthers and Hawks lost plenty of Seniors and will be reloading as fast as possible.

Blanco has 6 returning starters while your Hawks return 8 starters from last year’s 4A-Division I Second Round overtime loss to Rockport-Fulton.

Both teams rely on their running game as Blanco averaged 6 passes per game last season and CL Hawks will be running out of the Slot-T offense.

Adrien Dominguez will be the player these Panthers will be counting on as this young man finished the season with 1627 yards rushing while scoring 24 touchdowns.

Dominguez was the Panthers second leading receiver with 10 catches for 181 yards adding to his impressive resume.

Canyon Lake’s offense was thwarted last season by this Panther club and Blanco will have 3 of those players back and ready for a repeat of another good defensive game.

Defensive End Ryan Ronces will lead that side of the ball while getting help from two linebackers, Eddie Torres and Eskew.

Safety Jordan Wagner will have the defensive backfield duties as Wagner finished with 2 interceptions during his Junior campaign.

The question for Canyon Lake will be seeing if they might be able to score more than 2 touchdowns against Blanco.

An average of 11.6 points against the Panthers will put pressure on the defense in trying to keep the game close enough for an offensive score and victory.

The Hawks are rebuilding their backfield as Hayden DuBois, Josh DeVries, and Skyler Tschoepe have all graduated leaving Robert Woods as the lone survivor in the backfield.

Canyon Lake will be seeing if the young guns can grow up fast enough to beat a similarly young Panther team.

What do all of these players have in common? Micah St. John, Parker Reno, Luke Justis, Ben Fulton, Tanner Faris, Joseph Crisp, Jacob Foster, Sam Sheppard, Richard Rosas, and Jacob Ruff.

These players will be suiting up for their first Varsity game as Sophomores and one Freshman. In the past, CL, might have 2 or even 3 Sophomores to make the jump but this camp has a plethora of players that made a statement to the Coaches letting them know they are ready.

The Hawks sub-varsity teams have been doing great these past two years and have been fun to watch. Time will tell what we might see for the future and for a lot of these players, the future is Now!