Football: 'We're a different team now:' Everybody doing their part for surging Paetow
'Defense with attitude,' dominant run game spurring Panthers' 3-1 start
The crux of Paetow’s defensive ethos, the lynchpin of head coach David Hicks’ program, offers the donkey as a teaching point.
Allow senior defensive back Deyjhon Pettaway to explain.
“So, boom, you shoot the donkey in the head, he’s dead. That’s tackling,” Pettaway said. “That’s first. In the middle is lining up, so that’s alignment. You shoot the donkey in his middle, it will bleed out. Shoot the donkey in the tail, and that’s like little minor details … it’s going to be an ugly donkey.
“So that’s our mantra, and we’re sticking by that.”
The curious metaphor simplifies Paetow’s defensive keys: tackling, alignment, taking care of the little things.
When asked about it, Hicks raised an eyebrow and laughed before eventually pleading the fifth.
“Next (question),” Hicks said, laughing some more.
There’s a lot to smile about at Paetow these days. And, say whatever you wish about a donkey’s place in the game of football, it works for the Panthers.
Not even halfway through the regular season, Paetow has already surpassed last season’s win total.
In the second full season under Hicks, the Panthers continue to climb the proverbial ladder, the latest step a 28-0 win over Mayde Creek on Friday at Legacy Stadium for their third straight win.
It’s the biggest margin of victory for Paetow since a 40-10 win over Taylor on Oct. 27, 2022.
Paetow 28, Mayde Creek 0: Paetow player interviews and game recap
All four of the Panthers’ touchdowns came on the ground and the defense held the Rams to three yards per play.
“This is what we came to do,” senior running back Terrence Johnson said afterward. “This is Paetow. Our brand of football. That next-play mentality. Without that, where can you get in life?”
“This is Paetow. Our brand of football. That next-play mentality. Without that, where can you get in life?” - Paetow senior RB Terrence Johnson
Where the Panthers are is 3-1 overall, 2-0 in District 19-6A. This coming after a 2-8 2023 campaign.
“I just tell them to stay calm,” Hicks said. “It’s the Kobe Bryant thing of the job is not done.”
Paetow is built on dominating the line of scrimmage, winning third down, not turning the ball over and creating turnovers.
The basics.
“Once you really make it a focus, the kids buy into it and they rise up and perform,” Hicks said.
They’re putting on quite a show so far.
Paetow’s offense is predicated upon a running game averaging 218.3 yards per game. The Panthers have one turnover, and none since that Week 1 interception in a loss to 3-1 Langham Creek.
The defense is a disciplined unit of human piranhas that feasts off missed assignments and sloppiness. The Panthers consistently fit their gaps and are almost always where they’re supposed to be.
Pettaway credited defensive coordinator Charlie Ayro and a group of players that “has the right mindset.”
“Coach Ayro knows his players and he’s giving us the right scheme, so we all fit into the system,” Pettaway said. “We follow Coach Ayro and we’re trusting the man. But it’s also our mindset. We knew what we had to do. ‘D.W.A’ is our culture; that’s ‘defense with attitude.’ It’s just putting your mind on it. Get a stop. Third quarter shutout. Second half shutout.
“A mindset can change a lot, whether it’s a player or team. We’re a different team now.”
Schematically, Pettaway said the Panthers are not doing anything differently from last season, when they allowed a respectable 22.1 points on 275.6 yards per game.
“Last year, we kind of just tried to fit into the system, do different things,” Pettaway said. “We had new guys. But this year, we knew exactly what we had to turn into.”
Ranked third in 19-6A in total defense, the Panthers are allowing 14.8 points on 243 yards per game, and they have eight takeaways—three interceptions and five fumble recoveries.
Paetow’s plus-7 turnover ratio is the best in 19-6A.
“Our defense is just crazy,” Johnson said. “I don’t know how they do it every game. I love those boys.”
Paetow’s defense was strong last season, finishing third in 19-6A. Its dominance this season was expected, returning premier talents like Pettaway (four-star Texas A&M commit), senior defensive lineman Carmello Brooks (three-star Houston commit), senior defensive lineman Nicholas Elko (12 tackles for loss, four sacks), junior defensive tackle Daryl Campbell and senior defensive back Derrick Thomas, along with emerging junior defensive back Jaeden Spelmon (two interceptions).
The offense, however, left a lot to be desired in 2023, averaging 11.2 points per game. That was a crucial reason behind the Panthers finishing three wins shy of postseason contention.
This season, Paetow has found footing with the ball, thanks to the emergence of Johnson, who leads 19-6A in rushing after not qualifying for the district’s rushing leaders in 2023.
The 5-foot-9, 150-pound torpedo of a young man has 589 yards and seven touchdowns on 64 carries, averaging 9.2 yards per carry.
Johnson did not enter the season as the starter. But over the last two games, he has rushed for 441 yards and six touchdowns.
“It’s just the work that he’s put in,” Hicks said. “It really all started at the end of last year after we lost our last game versus Tompkins. Since then, he’s just been locked in. Laser focused. I don’t think there’s any amount of pressure on him to perform because he’s already put in the work.”
Johnson gained statewide attention last week as a nominee for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Player of the Week after gashing Tompkins for 315 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 4 win.
Paetow and Mayde Creek were scoreless at halftime last week. On the back of Johnson, who had 94 yards and three touchdowns on 12 second-half carries, the Panthers outscored the Rams 28-0 in the final two quarters.
“I try to stay humble,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to let it get to my head and go the wrong direction.”
Johnson’s game belies his size. He is not particularly fond of escaping to the perimeter. While he has considerable speed—a 4.41 laser-time in the 40-yard dash—he prefers going north-south and cutting upfield inside the tackles, not outside of them.
Johnson doesn’t waste yards. He prefers to chew them up.
“I’ve never been that type of guy (to bounce outside),” Johnson said. “I’m a small dude. Little man syndrome, you know. I like to do that. That’s just the type of dude I am. Get north and south, get whatever I can get, score a touchdown.”
Paetow’s improved offense—third in 19-6A with 23.5 points on 282.3 yards per game—has caught the attention of guys on the other side of the ball.
“They’re giving us breaks, man,” Pettaway said. “The offense this year is giving us a lot of time to settle in and fix little minor things in our schemes. In practice, we’re showing them how we work, and, shoot, they’re attacking us back. It shows up out here.”
“A mindset can change a lot, whether it’s a player or team. We’re a different team now.” - Paetow senior safety Deyjhon Pettaway
Paetow, which opened in 2017, initially authored a rapid rise to prominence. In their fourth year of varsity play in 2021, the Panthers won the Class 5A, Division I state championship, becoming just the second Katy ISD football program to win state.
The last couple of years, however, have been tumultuous.
In October 2022, Paetow underwent an abrupt coaching change after six games following the resignation of Lonnie Teagle, who had taken over after B.J. Gotte, who led the Panthers to the state title, left for Pearland earlier that spring.
Hicks was thrust into action as the interim head coach and awarded the fulltime job that offseason after going 2-2 under trying circumstances to help Paetow to a 5-5 finish.
Last season’s struggle has been documented. This year, though, is depicting a different story, an inspiring rebound of promise and optimism.
With a little swagger, too.
“Everybody wants to play Paetow,” Pettaway said. “They think, ‘Paetow this, Paetow that.’ They either think we’re undisciplined or that we’re not physical. So, every single game, we’re doing our best to show them we’re the best in the district.
“We’re the best. That’s our mindset, and everybody is making sure we’re doing our part.”