That vaunted Paetow defense, it’s as good as advertised.

The Panthers had talked a lot about what their defense could be and the potential on that side of the ball coming into the season.

That potential and that work was put into action on Friday, and the Panthers looked dominant on that side of the ball.

Behind nine sacks and an incredible performance from the Panthers front seven, the Panthers came away with a 14-3 victory over Conroe on Friday night, with some of the defenses biggest names also making an impact on the offensive side of the ball.

“This defense is special,” said senior linebacker Alex Kilgore. “It comes from everyone, not just one player and everyone steps up. And it works because all of us are unselfish, we let different players make plays and we know every single guy is going to get their shot to do that. We just have a huge amount of talent and we’re just going to keep getting better.”

Paetow completely shut down any semblance of a run game from Conroe throughout the night, holding the Tigers to -14 yards, and the pass defense was almost just as impactful.

DJ Hicks had three sacks on the night and Logan Thomas came away with two sacks, while Daymion Sanford, Stephen Green, Jarra Anderson and Rodney McDonald all came away with a sack a piece in the win, as Conroe went without a touchdown for the entire game.

“Really it’s just so fun to be a part of,” Hicks said. “Just to be able to come out, play for Coach (Lonnie) Teagle, my dad, and everyone else on the coaching staff and team is really fun. It was great to showcase what we’ve been working on all summer tonight.”

But for as dominant as Paetow’s defense was all night, the Panthers offense struggled almost as much. The Panthers turned the ball over twice on interceptions, only managed six passing in the entire second half and were unable to take advantage of good field position a number of times throughout the game.

“We’re still trying to figure some things out on the offensive end,” said Paetow head coach Lonnie Teagle. “Coming in with a new system is a big transition and our guys are still trying to work some things out. But our guys are resilient and they played really hard, the offensive line played really well and we’re going to continue leaning on those guys.”

The Panthers had two interceptions in the first quarter, stalling drives, but were finally able to get on the board in the second quarter.

After a drive led them to the goal line, Kilgore came in as a power running back and punched the ball into the endzone on a 2-yard run to hand Paetow the lead. It was the first of Kilgore’s varsity career and he made the most of it, running down the sideline and celebrating with his teammates.

“I was super stoked about it, really it was so exciting,” Kilgore said. “I was really happy they put me in and believed in me to do that. To get the touchdown was really cool. I just hope I can help my team both on defense and offense.”

Conroe brought themselves within four points late in the second with a field goal, but that would be the Tigers only score of the game, as the Panthers completely shut down anything Conroe tried to do offensively.

Things remained tied through the third quarter and Paetow went back and forth at quarterback with both Koby Truehill and Brock Nichols getting reps, Paetow finally pulled away in the fourth quarter, when Truehill was able to connect on a 6-yard pass with Hicks, who had come in to play tight end, after a long run from Kilgore helped move the team down the field.

“I’ve always known I could impact the game on both ends, so it really feels good to be able to do it,” Hicks said. “Whatever I need to do to help the team I’m going to do it, so if that’s scoring a touchdown of blocking or whatever it is, I’m going to be happy to do it.”

The Panthers held Conroe off from there to secure the win, which was the first of Teagle’s head coaching career.

After the game, Kilgore, along with Katy ISD Athletic Director Debbie Decker and Paetow principal Mindy Dickerson presented Teagle with the game ball to celebrate the accomplishment.

“It’s soaked in a little bit,” Teagle said. “It’s been kind of crazy, everything has been a whirlwind but I’m soaking it in. I’ve learned over my career that you have to enjoy them all. It wasn’t the prettiest, and you always want things to be a little better in some areas, but the win is all that matters and I’m excited about it.”

The Panthers have a tough road ahead of them, facing Cy-Ranch next before jumping into district play, but it’s something the entire team is looking forward to, and they’re already trying to find ways to improve and be ready for their next opponent.

“We knew that we needed to show people this week that we can compete with anyone and our motivation this week was ‘prove it’” Kilgore said. “Prove why we deserve to be here, prove how good our defense is and prove everything we can to everyone. For us to come out and especially defensively shut them down even with how much we were on the field was huge. We didn’t let up at all tonight. Now we have to go and do that again next week and every week after that.”

Paetow 14, Conroe 3

Second quarter

P: Alex Kilgore 2 run (Brady Wade kick) 9:34

C: Arjit Singh 44 field goal, 1:23

Fourth quarter

P: Koby Truehill 6 pass to DJ Hicks (Wade kick) 7:04

Team stats

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Paetow: Damyrion Phillips, 16-73; Alex Kilgore, 8-65-1; Koby Truehill, 3-26; Derrick Johnson, 6-21; Jamaal Comminie, 3-3; Brock Nichols, 2-1; Conroe: Dramekco Green, 4-31; Louis Williams, 1-0; Nick Medina, 4-0; Cameron Thomas, 2-(-1); Javarius Hatchett, 16-(-44);

Passing – Paetow: Koby Truehill, 5-10-45-1-2; Brock Nichols, 2-6-1-0-0; Conroe: Javarius Hatchett, 15-25-208-0-0

Receiving – Paetow: Justin Stevenson, DJ Hicks, 1-6-1; Jason Blue, 2-2; Kaleb Molina, 1-0; Saymon Taylor, 1-0; Conroe: Louis Williams, 6-118; Cameron Thomas, 7-75; Michael Fermin, 1-13; Nigel Leday, 1-2