Panthers Hope to Finish Storybook Season with State Championship Win

Thank you to Nutrien Ag Solutions for sponsoring Big Country Blitz’s Abilene Christian state championship coverage.

ABILENE, Texas — Abilene Christian will be playing for a state championship for the first time in 12 years on Thursday night when they face Conroe Covenant in the TAPPS Six-Man Division II title game in Waco. For the school and the program, it will hopefully be the icing on the cake for a great year that started with the opening of their brand-new stadium.

“It’s been a storybook year for us, no doubt,” said head coach Kirk Wade. “That new stadium has been awesome.”

Photo: Abilene Christian School

For the Panthers, playing for the state title this year means getting over the hump. They lost in the semifinals last season to a Fort Worth Covenant team that went on to win the state championship, and Abilene Christian suffered its fourth loss over the past three years to Covenant in district play in October. They had their sights set on a semifinal rematch again this year, but it was not meant to be as Lucas Christian upset the Cavaliers 68-48 in the quarterfinals. But the Panthers took care of business against Lucas Christian, 52-42, in the semifinals, knocking the Warriors out for the second year in a row and getting back to the state championship game. The Panthers have earned nail-biting win after nail-biting win (at least for six-man standards) in the playoffs, beating Dallas Lakehill 52-46 on a last-second touchdown, beating Plano Coram Deo 60-48, and getting past Lucas Christian last week. “Every one of our playoff games has been where we’ve had to make plays in the second half,” said Wade.

Having a great senior class certainly helps with the experience to make those big second-half plays, and the Panthers are blessed in that category. Seniors Davis Patteson, Isaac Presley, Bryce McGlothlin, Carson Schwiethale, and Jackson Martin are a big reason why the Panthers are playing in the final week of the season. Wade said, “I will attribute it to senior leadership. Those guys set the tone for us early, and when you think back on our schedule, scheduling Benjamin (who is in the 1A D2 semifinals Saturday against Klondike and looking for a second straight state championship) and Hermleigh early, we’re battle-tested. We don’t get down; we just keep making plays.”

Abilene Christian RB Brooks Armstrong/Abilene Christian School Photo

Junior Brooks Armstrong is another big reason why the Panthers are still in the playoffs. He missed much of 2022 due to injury, but has returned with a vengeance in 2023. Armstrong has 1,930 yards and 35 touchdowns rushing, 14 catches for 164 yards and three touchdowns, has thrown three touchdown passes, and has 43 tackles, third most on the team behind Isaac Presley (67) and Davis Patteson (52), and has picked off a team-high four passes. “He is a student of the game,” said Wade. “Nobody watches more film during the week than him and Presley. To have him back and that energy back and that burst has been big for us.”

The Panthers draw a Conroe Covenant team that is similar to them in that they are finally playing for a title after years of coming up short. The Cougars lost in the 2022 semifinals to Pasadena First Baptist, lost in the 2021 semifinals and 2020 quarterfinals to Marble Falls Faith, and lost to New Braunfels Christian in the 2019 semifinals. They fell to First Baptist 68-20 in district play this year, but bounced back to beat them last week 74-62 in comeback fashion. “Pasadena scored on the first play from scrimmage, and with about four minutes left in the second quarter led 40-22 in that game,” Wade said. “I told our kids, ‘We’re in for a 40-minute war here.’ They had every chance to drop their heads and say, ‘It’s just going to be like it was.’ They forced some turnovers right there before the half, got some momentum, and just kept going. We’re prepared to play a 40-minute game because those guys showed some real guts in that semifinal game last week.”

Abilene Christian head coach Kirk Wade/Big Country Blitz photo

Wade is in his first full season as the head coach, but he has served on staff for the Panthers for years. He is also the Superintendent of the school, and he wasn’t exactly looking to add the responsibility of being a head coach to his plate after the Panthers moved on from their previous head man. He took over as head coach for the 2022 playoff run, but was thinking that was that and he’d go back to running the Panther defense. His returning players had other ideas. “A couple weeks after the season was over, there was a knock at the door, probably at 7:00 or 7:30 in the evening, and I opened the door, and all 14-15 kids were standing there. The seniors sat and talked to me for a couple minutes and they gave me a card, then they stepped aside and the juniors, this year’s seniors, stepped up and said, ‘We want you to please consider coaching.’ At that point, I told them that’s something the Board of Trustees decides; I can’t name myself the head coach. I told them I’d consider it, but it was something the board would have to sign off on. Two or three of those dads are board members, so they were quick to sign off on it. It wasn’t something that I had planned, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it out here,” Wade said.

Athletic teams making great playoff runs can make an undeniable impact in a positive way on the school, and Abilene Christian is soaking it all in. Wade said, “You combine this season with a new stadium, and it provides us opportunities to do all kinds of things. Every week at home games, we had a different elementary grade run through the tunnel with the team. It’s just created this community and this buzz, and because these elementary families have come out to the games, they’re invested, and it’s really swept the entire campus.”

The Panthers (11-2) meet Conroe Covenant (12-1) Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Waco at Waco ISD Stadium.

Photo: Abilene Christian School

ABILENE CHRISTIAN 2023 RESULTS

NON-DISTRICT
8/25 Lubock Titans 62-26
9/1 Hermleigh 68-44
9/8 Benjamin 27-72
9/15 Lubbock Kingdom Prep 58-8
DISTRICT
9/22 at Keller Harvest 47-0
9/29 Midland Trinity 62-14
10/7 at Amarillo San Jacinto 45-0
10/13 Irving The Highlands 1-0 (forfeit)
10/20 at Fort Worth Covenant Classical 6-52
10/27 Denton Calvary 75-30
PLAYOFFS
11/10 Dallas Lakehill 52-46
11/17 Plano Coram Deo 60-48
11/24 Lucas Christian 52-42

CONROE COVENANT 2023 RESULTS

NON-DISTRICT
8/25 at Waco Live Oak 78-55
9/1 Houston Cristo Rey Jesuit 62-0
9/8 Missouri City Divine Savior Academy 60-14
9/15 @ Sugar Land Logos Prep 58-8
9/22 Houston Mount Carmel 57-0
DISTRICT
10/6 Beaumont Legacy 51-6
10/13 at Houston Westbury Christian 86-38
10/19 at Katy Faith West 49-0
10/27 Pasadena First Baptist 20-68
11/3 Bryan Allen Academy 72-14
PLAYOFFS
11/10 San Marcos Academy 68-20
11/17 Waco Live Oak 67-38
11/24 Pasadena First Baptist 74-62

ABILENE CHRISTIAN STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing

Carson Schwiethale: 54-98, 876 yds, 13 TD, 2 int
Brooks Armstrong: 10-18, 129 yds, 3 TD
Davis Patteson: 4-4, 156 yds, 2 TD

Rushing

Brooks Armstrong: 1930 yds, 35 TD
Davis Patteson: 589 yds, 11 TD
Pierson Walters: 322 yds, 5 TD
Jeremiah Bynum: 163 yds, 7 TD

Receiving

Nate Garza: 17 rec, 398 yds, 5 TD
Isaac Presley: 16 rec, 293 yds, 5 TD
Brooks Armstrong: 14 rec, 164 yds, 3 TD
Pierson Walters: 11 rec, 133 yds, 2 TD
Bryce McGlothlin: 4 rec, 82 yds, 3 TD

Tackles

Isaac Presley: 67
Davis Patteson: 52
Brooks Armstrong: 43
Bryce McGlothlin: 40
Jeremiah Bynum: 39
Pierson Walters: 36
Nate Garza: 31

Sacks

Bryce McGlothlin: 7.5
Nate Garza: 5.5
Isaac Presley: 3

Interceptions

Brooks Armstrong: 4
Pierson Walters: 3
Jeremiah Bynum: 3
Isaac Presley: 67

Fumble Recoveries

Isaac Presley: 6
Nate Garza: 5

Kicking

Carson Schwiethale: 50-61 PAT, 1-1 FG