Rewind 365 days and the Panthers’ record was at 1-5 entering district play. Three games later Fort Stockton was crowned district champions and the Panthers went on to advance to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.
This season the script is flipped for Mike Peters’ squad, but the mindset and approach has not changed in any capacity.
Fort Stockton head football coach Mike Peters admitted after Friday’s game that his team had played better ball previously in the season.
But the sixth-year head coach let it be known from the beginning of Friday’s postgame interview that the Panthers performance was a distance second to the heart and resolve shown by his players.
Fort Stockton cross country trio Leslie Esquivel, Ali Jackson, and Fabian Perez did it again.
The group will be returning to regionals for the second consecutive season after qualifying at the District 2-4A meet in Andrews on Oct. 11.
Jackson and Perez each placed second in their respective divisions while Esquivel claimed fourth place.
In just over a month, Fort Stockton born boxer Abel Mendoza will once again put his undefeated professional record on the line.
The 25-year-old super featherweight will carry a 30-0 mark into The Last Stand boxing event on Nov. 20 at Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico – the location where he last fought.
Mendoza and his opponent German Ivan Meraz (64-59-3) will be the co-main bout on the card that is headlined by world champions Marco Antonio Barrera and Daniel Ponce de Leon.
Fort Stockton’s offense has done what they want to do, when they want to do it for a majority of their 2021 campaign thus far – averaging 483 yards of offense and 37 points per game through six outings.
But the Panthers defense has been just as impressive as their counterpart the past few weeks.
The streak is over and a new chapter is on the horizon for the Fort Stockton volleyball program.
The Prowlers put an end to their five-year losing skid against district opponents on Oct. 5 against Andrews at home in their fourth district match of the season.
“It feels amazing. I want to cry,” said Fort Stockton senior Alyana Dominguez of her first career district win as a Prowler. “We just had the connection that we needed to have the whole entire season tonight. We finally clicked.”
