Pantego Christian routs Dallas Covenant behind big night from RB Myion Hicks
Senior running back Myion Hicks is the total package of size, speed and versatility, and he displayed his full array of skills Friday night at Miller Stadium as he led Pantego Christian to a 35-7 romp over host Dallas Covenant in a TAPPS District 2 Division 3 match-up.
Hicks is fast and bruising and he carried the ball 19 times for 158 yards and scored on runs of 3, 30 and 9 yards as the Panthers established their superiority early against a feisty but over-matched Covenant team that averted a shutout late in the game.
Pantego took the opening kickoff and marched 81 yards on 12 plays, picking up five first downs and scored when Hicks bulled his way in from three yards out. That run followed an explosive 13-yard burst on a fourth-and-4 from the Covenant 16.
The Panthers (4-0, 3-0 in TAPPS 2-D3) were held in check the rest of the opening quarter, but broke things open in the second quarter with another sustained drive, this time 75 yards on 13 plays with quarterback Kaden Paladini hitting Cort MacDonald with a 30-yard strike. Kicker Tori Soland booted her second of five PATs to give Pantego a 14-0 lead with just over seven minutes remaining before halftime.
Big defensive lineman Ryan Sunderman, who played well all evening for the Panthers, pounced on a Covenant fumble only two plays later and Pantego was set up nicely at the Knights’ 30-yard line.
Hicks wasted no time, taking a hand-off from Paladini and raced 30 yards for a score that put Covenant in a hole from which it would never recover.
The Panthers led 21-0 at halftime and then went up 28-0 in the third quarter when they held Covenant on downs and took over at the Knights’ 23. It was Hicks getting his third score of the night from nine yards out on another powerful run.
Covenant (2-1, 0-1) kept fighting and finally got on the scoreboard with nine minutes to play when Knights’ running back Barrett Graham followed up a 20-yard run to the 1 with a plunge into the end zone.
Pantego scored its final touchdown with 5:46 remaining when junior running back Dylan Spain sliced through the Covenant line and scored from eight yards out.
The Panthers’ defense was led by Sunderman and linebackers Hicks and Jason Hansen. Defensive back Reiss Vickers came up with an interception to quell one Covenant drive late in the first half.
“Our defense played well,” Pantego coach Drew Sells said. “And Hicks is our guy, he played well. I was disappointed with our penalties because we want to be more disciplined.”
Pantego hosts Tyler All Saints for homecoming Oct. 23.
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 11:46 PM.