Players and families celebrated as coach Christian Boehm checked off winning the Regional Quarterfinals on the team poster Tuesday night. The Panthers had just dominated Longview, winning 3-0 at Lufkin Hudson High School.
The Panthers snapped the Lobos’s 16-game winning streak to advance to the Regional Semifinals for the first time since 2021.
“It’s really exciting because I think this is the furthest Coach has been,” senior Evan Jimerson said. “So, I’m happy. Hopefully we’ll keep winning. I’m happy for him.”
With 15 minutes left in the first half, Jimerson was fouled 30 yards out from the goal. He drove the kick straight into the goal to give the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.
“There was a free kick,” said Evan, who has four goals and five assists in the first three playoff games. “I was deciding whether to go far post or near post, but then I hit it near post.”
The second goal came on a corner kick from Evan Jimerson. He connected with his brother Grant, who headed the ball into the goal for a 2-0 lead.
At the 30 minute mark in the first half, junior Chase Bennett was fouled in the box. Evan Jimerson took the penalty kick. As the goalkeeper dove right, Evan drilled it into the bottom left corner.
(Arleigh Doehring)
“Clinical,” Boehm said of the goals against Longview. “The things that we do, the things that we practice, we just put it in. We get into situations we want to be in and we put the ball on the back of the net. And the fact that these boys are so coachable and they do the things that we ask them to do, and they put that into action, speaks volumes and obviously gets us the result.”
With the boys up 3-0, Boehm told the team at halftime, “You’ve proven it, you belong on top.”
In the second half, the Panthers maintained their lead as the defense shut down Longview’s offense, which had previously been shut out only twice this year. Longview’s biggest threat was when the Lobos drilled the ball into the net at the 8 minute mark in the first half. As Longview started celebrating, the refs whistled for offsides, erasing the goal.
The Panthers’ defense has allowed only two goals in its last five games. It is the program’s best defense since Kingwood Park made it to the State Championship game in 2021.
“I know the Jimersons, they get a lot of press because they put the goals in and they put in the assists,” Boehm said. “They definitely deserve a spotlight. But we have to remember that without guys like Mason Sagendorph, Finn [Bruce], Blake [Lawson] and the guys that do all the things around them, they can’t do what they do best.”
The boys now prepare to face West Mesquite in the Regional Semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m. The teams will play at Standridge Stadium in Carrollton for a chance to reach the Regional Finals.
