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Peaks and valleys: Panthers' promising start to 2012 goes awry
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
The Plano East football team played two different seasons in 2012.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, it was the one that leads to a playoff berth that didn't go according to their liking with East ultimately winding up just outside the District 10-5A postseason bubble.
That didn't look to be the case through the first month of the season, when the Panthers were putting up some of the most prolific offensive numbers in the Metroplex.
Then the other shoe dropped.
In the second the quarter of the Marcus game, senior quarterback Mario Smalls suffered a leg injury. Despite returning to action in the 38-17 win, it was later revealed Smalls had suffered a broken fibula and was in danger of missing the rest of the season.
"The team is never about one guy," said Johnny Ringo, East head coach, "but with that one particular position at quarterback, it means a great deal to you."
In addition to losing one of the centerpieces of a high-powered offense, the Panthers' inability to secure a 10th opponent meant consecutive byes for Weeks 4-5 -- a situation Ringo said he's already working toward remedying for next year. So, after capping non-district with a 38-17 win over Marcus on Sept. 21, East didn't return to action until Oct. 12. As if that amount of time off wasn't enough, the Panthers' foray into 10-5A was a matchup against state-ranked Allen.
The result was a 56-0 loss to the Eagles.
"You could tell that initially we weren't sharp in that first game back and things just kind of snowballed from there," Ringo said. "It was a combination of the length of time we had off and that we were playing a very good opponent."
Chalk it up to the extended layoff or the offense struggling to adjust without Smalls, but it was a markedly different look from the Panthers.
"Both sides of the ball complemented each other very well during those first four games," Ringo said. "Because we were able to do so much offensively, they fed off each other. We put some teams in binds and if we were able to take the ball down and score each possession, it made them change what they were doing."
The identity of the offense shifted dramatically under the guise of backup sophomore signal caller Taylor McGehee, who offered more mobility than Smalls but lacked the arm strength and experience.
"Taylor has got a chance to be a great quarterback but it's tough for a sophomore to step into a role like that," Ringo said, "especially against someone state-ranked like Allen. That's a tough task for anybody, be it Mario or another quarterback."
Things didn't get any easier for the Panthers, who went on to suffer losses against a McKinney squad making the jump from Class 4A and city rival Plano Senior, whom they gave up nearly 400 rushing yards to.
At 0-3 in 10-5A, ramifications of Smalls' injury manifested through East's makeup.
With Smalls in the lineup, East averaged 40.8 points on the year and without him, just eight. Defensively, the Panthers surrendered 40.7 points in Smalls' absence compared to just 28.7 with him active.
The Panthers ran for more yards per carry (4.7 to 6.8) with Smalls at quarterback and the team's leading receiver, senior Collin Shaw, caught just 10 of his 52 receptions in the three games Smalls missed. It put East's playoff pursuit on life support, a prospect that showed signs of life against McKinney Boyd when Smalls returned to action. Be it an emotional lift or not, the Panthers put forth their best district defensive effort in muzzling a potent Broncos attack for a 22-20 victory to keep their postseason hopes alive.
"It meant a tremendous amount to get [Smalls] back out there," Ringo said. "It's a huge difference having him back there with his decision-making and leadership, and it helped lift the whole team, from offense to defense and special teams."
Any chance of a last-ditch miracle was dashed at the hands of Plano West the next week though, with East's 1-4 run through 10-5A sinking the season mark to 5-4.
Offensively, junior Lionel Wills averaged nearly 7.5 yards per carry out of the backfield while Shaw bagged 888 yards and 10 touchdowns through the air. Senior Jackson Garrey piloted the defense at linebacker while sophomores Landis Durham and Austin Corbett turned in banner campaigns on the defensive line in their first tastes of varsity action.
They'll provide linchpins for the future though, as is customary, East graduates a heavy senior class with 47 players donning the black and gold for the final time in 2012.
"They did a tremendous job for us this year and they'll continue to have success," Ringo said. "The season didn't go as they had hoped, but I'm proud of them for all they've brought to the program."
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
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