Midlothian defense shines, offense shows glimpses in televised 287 win over rival Ennis

Travis M. Smith August 31, 2023 Ennis High School, Football, Midlothian High School 1,498 Views

By Travis M. Smith | Ellis County Sports

MIDLOTHIAN — The Midlothian Panther defense flexed on the visiting Ennis Lions in a dialed-down version of a US Highway 287 battle on Thursday.

Midlothian held the visiting Lion offense to 197 total yards at Midlothian ISD Multipurpose Stadium to pick up the Panthers’ first win. The (1-1) Midlothian offense, meanwhile, was fueled by two passing touchdowns in the convincing 32-17 victory.

The game was Senior Night for the Panthers and televised live on CW33.

“We dominated the entire line of scrimmage, so the whole defensive line played well, and the offensive line has come a long way since week one,” Midlothian head coach Doug Wendel told Ellis County Sports after the win. “We just need to keep getting better. We cleaned a lot of things up on offense and defense tonight. We have to keep staying physical and have some things to work on, but we got a lot better from week one to week two, and that’s what non-district is about.”

The Panthers ultimately outgained the (0-2) Lions 344 total yards to 197 and 21 first downs to 11.

And though Lion quarterback Wondame Davis Jr. made things interesting with a pair of second-half touchdowns, the game was never really in question.

Davis Jr. rushed for a team-high 81 yards on 14 for two second-half touchdowns. Ennis’ 4-star junior wide receiver Gracen Harris was held to 4 catches for 62 yards — rough math shows over 45 of those came after the catch.

Midlothian rolled its 20-3 first-half lead into a 26-3 third-quarter advantage following a 26-yard touchdown pass from Drew Wendel to 5-star wideout Bryant Wesco. The touchdown pass came with 7:48 to play in the third quarter.

The Wendel-to-Wesco connection also capped the Panther scoring with just over 5 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. That score put Midlothian comfortably ahead, 32-17.

Wendel completed 9-of-his-15 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns — both to Wesco (7-74, 2TD).

Fullback Michael Garber paced the Panther backfield with 27 tough carries for 101 yards and a 1-yard, second-quarter touchdown. Slater Callahan (8-24) opened the Panther scoring with a 4-yard rushing score early in the first quarter.

Wendel pointed to first-half sacks recorded by linebackers Ny’tori Burnett (6-0, 225, 2025) and Beau Wendel (2026), combined with stellar play by outside linebacker Zavier Killoran (6-1, 170) and defensive back Dejasper Webb as being catalysts to the win.

“I thought the entire defense played really, really well and set the tempo there in the first half with a huge turnover and a sack,” Wendel added. “The defense was all together.”