Through true grit and maybe a little luck, the Klein Oak Panthers were able to play their entire football season through a pandemic and make it to the playoffs without skipping a beat.

In the beginning of practice was difficult, with players coming back to school for the first time while the risk of a Coronavirus outbreak was high. But even with the health concerns, the players continued to work at 100% to ensure they’d be ready for the season’s kickoff.

Even though the Panthers worked tirelessly for weeks leading up to the start of the season, they fell to the heavily favored Spring Lions in a close game 27-31. However, with this tough loss came a revival Klein Oak football’s old school smash-mouth defense and the confidence was beginning to show its true colors come district time.

The Panthers faced off against a mediocre Klein Forest Eagles team and handled business following their loss the week before. Oak ran down the Eagles, achieving 271 yards from all kinds of runners. However, the best performances came from junior Charles Garret, running for 133-yards and senior Jamal Stephens running for another 111-yards. Oak’s defense all came to play by only allowing one touchdown to be scored by the Eagles. Although, the real test would come in the next week.

A bitter rivalry that has been dominated by the Klein Collins Tigers in years past has finally come to a halt as the Panthers laid down such a beating that the entire district was made aware. The reputation of Oak’s  defense did not disappoint as Collins never even found the endzone the entire game. And the Tigers could not reciprocate the dominance, allowing Oak to rack up a total of 26 points. Following their 2-0 district record, the entire Klein area was put on notice.

Even though the Panthers seemed to be fitting into the season just fine, the Tomball Cougars made a statement by defeating Oak with a nail-biting score of 16-17. Stephens once again showed out and ran for 127 on 14 carries.

The Panthers took on the Klein Cain Hurricanes the following week, yet the Panthers couldn’t find their groove, forcing another loss and going below .500 for the first six games of the season.

Heading into the seventh game of the season, the Panthers were looking to end their two game losing streak. And that’s exactly what they did, defeating the Klein Bearkats 21-14. Oak’s defense held the Bearkats to their lowest points scored all season by a long shot by shutting down the threatening Bearkat passing game.

The quick success for the Panthers did not last long however. The Tomball Memorial Wildkats handed the Panthers the worst loss of their season racking up a resounding 48 points compared to the measly 20 points by the Panthers. This moved Oak to under .500 for 3^rd time that season. Nevertheless, the Panthers made the playoffs and began their run to the state championship.

Following the grizzly loss to the Wildkats, the Panthers did not let the Cypress Ranch Mustangs off the hook come playoff time. The Mustangs were 7-2 heading into the playoffs, although the record meant nothing when it came to hitting the field. The Panthers put Cy-Ranch on the backburners with a dominating 30-6 win, forcing the Mustangs to turn tail and head home. However, with the win, the Panthers were to face their toughest challenge yet again.

The Panthers could not maintain the success found in the first round of the playoffs, dropping out of their run for state in the second round once again losing to the Spring Lions, this time 14-31. However, through the ashes of an ending season, a young player by the name of PJ Tucker may be heading into the spotlight. Tucker, a quarterback, ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns, along with 67 yards passing on six attempts. All photos by Daniel Alvarez-Fedyaev