Fifty-two years is a long time. That’s how long it has been since an El Paso area team defeated a Permian football team. El Paso Montwood proved just how far Sun City football has come. And they did it with a backup quarterback and D1 recruit Warren Redix fighting an injury. The Rams overcame a 15-point deficit to clam a 34-30 win over the Panthers on Friday at the Socorro Student Activities Center.

The Panthers have now lost their fourth straight season opener in a row. Montwood took an early lead after backup QB Wesley Myers connected on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Redix. The Rams turned the ball over four times, resulting in Permian scoring 23 unanswered points. The Panthers defense gave up a 30-yard Rams TD pass as the half came to a close.

The third quarter did the most damage. Permian could not add any points to the scoreboard, while Montwood added 13. The Rams become the first El Paso team (since Ysleta in 1960) to defeat Mojo. Jorrion Wilson rushed for 161 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries, and caught a 7-yard TD pass. Andrew Perez also caught five passes for a game-high 102 yards. On a positive, Permian scored 16 points off of takeaways. However, the Panthers committed a school-record 16 penalties for 139 yards.