On Friday, Nov. 6 the Panthers will face off against the Goliath that is Allen High School’s football team in their final regular season game, at 7:30 PM at Eagle Stadium in Allen. This comes as the Panthers have had a triumphant year, returning to dominance in the Plano football scene. This season has been one of the highest scoring, winningest seasons in recent years, and the team is ready to fight their final, and biggest, Friday night battle on the gridiron.

“This year has gone a lot better than last year,” Wide Receiver junior Cameron Moore said. “We want to put Plano East back on the map as a great football team,” he said.

This isn’t the first year that the Panthers have surged. Those around in the 1990s may recall that Plano East had one of the best football programs in the state. The last time they defeated Allen was in 1999, when the the Panthers triumphed 13-2. Since then though, Allen has widely been deemed “the team to beat” by many local football programs, as they won three straight state titles, and have consistently gone undefeated.

Despite this, Plano East players’ spirits have not been dampened.

“[The players] are all pretty confident with ourselves and our ability to succeed,” Safety senior Quan Beasley said.

Beasley doesn’t believe fans should be deterred by Allen’s record either.

“Just know that Allen isn’t all they’re hyped up to be,” he said. “They’re a good team, but so are we. There’s nothing special that they’re doing that we aren’t doing.”

Regardless of the outcome of the game tonight, the resurgent Panthers have secured a spot in the playoffs, something they haven’t done in four years.

“From last year, us being 1-9, I knew this year had to be something good just based on all the work we put in over the summer and all the preparation we’ve had,” Beasley said. “To succeed in the playoffs, we need to go hard every play. We need to play as if its our last play.”

The Panthers will face off against Denton Ryan at CH Collins Stadium in Denton on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 PM. As for the fans, players encourage them to show up and support the Panthers during the entirety of their playoffs run.

“Show up, support and be loud,” Wide Receiver Cameron Moore said. “And, Thank you.”

The Panthers also remind fans to show up in support of them tonight as they take on Allen at 7:30 PM at Eagle Stadium.