SAN ANTONIO — The Pflugerville Panthers needed just one touchdown to get past San Antonio Reagan in the bi-district round of the 5A playoffs. And that touchdown came on the first play of the game in their 10-3 win at Comalander Stadium on Friday.

The Panthers took the opening kickoff of the game and set up shop at the 15-yard line. On first down Pflugerville quarterback Alex Dean dropped back and fired a pass to his favorite receiver, Drew Travis, who took the ball and raced 85 yards for the first (and subsequently only) touchdown of the game. Sean Ianno booted the extra point and seconds into the game the Panthers had a lead they would not be giving back.

“That was a great first play,” Pflugerville coach George Herrmann said. “Our offense made plays when they had to.”

Riding their staunch defense to the win, the Panther offense made the only play it really had to by scoring that touchdown. The Pflugerville defense held the vaunted Rattler offense to 138 total yards and forced a pair of interceptions off Reagan quarterback Trevor Knight.

“I felt like we played a real good game on the defensive side,” Herrmann added. “Our offense still has a lot to improve on but our defense needs to keep playing the way they were playing.”

The Panther defense held a Reagan offense in check that was averaging well over 300 yards a game. Pflugerville did not allow the Rattlers to get inside the 10-yard line and gave up just three points, allowing a Jake Wilcox field goal with two minutes to play in the first half. Reagan could get no further than the Panther 39-yard line in the second half and that was thanks to a great punt return. On their first play from the 39, Pflugerville’s Skody Robertson intercepted a Knight pass, stopping the scoring chance before it even started.

“I think our speed and quickness were a little more than they expected,” Herrmann said. “We contained them well on the edges.”

Robertston’s interception also set up the only points of the second half. The Panthers took over at the 32-yard line and proceeded to march 47 yards on 12 plays to set Ianno up for a 38-yard field goal that pushed the score to 10-3. Sammy Flowers, who led the Panthers with 97 yards rushing, did most of the work on the dive, delivering a big 18-yard run on third and 8. Julian Ward, who had 60 yards on 15 carries, picked up a huge first down on a fourth and inches play that kept the drive alive and gave Ianno the chance to stretch the lead.

The Panthers now must contend with another high-powered San Antonio school as they will face Brandeis at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Alamodome. The Broncos come into the game with a 10-1 record and are led by Noah Copeland who has rushed for 1769 yards and 26 touchdowns. Herrmann knows his team has its work cut out for it if their season is to continue past Saturday.

“They’ve got a quality football team,” he said. “They like to run the ball so we’ve got to stop [Copeland]. Hopefully we can take care of him and not allow any long drives.”