PANHANDLE — Panhandle’s football team came into the 2025 season with high expectations, and so far, the Panthers have lived up to those predictions.
After taking down Clarendon 71-0 in Week 1, Dane Ashley’s team met Stratford for a rivalry game in Week 2. Last year, the Panthers needed overtime to edge out the Elks 33-27.
This time around, Panhandle started fast and ran away with the game, as Broxton Robinson accounted for five touchdowns, and the Panthers’ defense stifled the Elks en route to a 61-19 win.
Robinson announced his pledge to West Point over the summer, finding the ‘perfect’ fit with Army. Before his time at West Point begins, though, the senior two-way star and his teammates have their sights set on bringing home a state championship.
Robinson’s commitment
According to Ashley, the Panhandle community wasn’t surprised to hear that the Black Knights were coming to speak with Carson County’s star athlete.
It’s not every day that Division I scouts visit a Class 2A school in a town of around 2,300 people, but observers could see why Robinson and Army were a perfect pair on and off the field.
“I think when everybody heard that Army was coming to talk to Broxton, all they said was, ‘That’s the perfect fit.’ Not only is Broxton an outstanding football player, but he’s an extremely disciplined person,” Ashley said. “ He’s a phenomenal leader, and that’s what happens at West Point. Those guys are all about leadership, and they’re all about discipline.
“They’re all about work ethic, and that is Brox Robinson to a T. Plus, the dude loves guns, you know what I mean? So go to the army, shoot all the guns you want and get all that leadership, it’s the perfect fit.”
Robinson agreed with his coach, saying that the tough, ‘hard-nosed’ mentality at Army aligns with what he has learned from Ashley at Panhandle. With the Black Knights, Robinson is set to play running back, a change from his current role as a quarterback and linebacker.
Robinson added that he ‘loves’ Army’s staff and is excited to arrive on campus. In the meantime, though, the 2023 Amarillo Globe-News Newcomer of the Year said that getting his college decision out of the way has helped him focus on the Panthers’ 2025 campaign.
“A lot of weight is off my shoulders,” Robinson said. “I know what my future is going to look like, and I can focus on my team and what I need to do to be better for my team. So it’s been pretty nice to have that weight off my shoulders.”
Championship aspirations
Panhandle’s goal every year is to win a state title, and after returning a number of starters from a team that went 10-2 in 2024, this year is no different.
“A state championship, I mean, that’s the first goal,” Robinson said. “But first, you’ve got to be district champs.”
The Panthers lost only to Sunray, who graduated UIL record-holder Armando Lujan, and Stamford last year. Panhandle’s 2024 loss to the Bulldogs was part of Stamford’s run to the state title game, where Wayne Hutchinson’s team was defeated by Ganado in a triple-overtime thriller.
With Sunray and Stamford both losing significant pieces of last year’s rosters, the door could be open for Ashley’s team to make a deep postseason run. Others around the state seem to think so, as well.
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football picked Panhandle to beat Stamford in the regional championship coming into the 2025 campaign.
Robinson and Ashley agreed that the Panthers handled high expectations well, remaining calm throughout the offseason and focusing on internal improvement rather than exterior noise.
Through two weeks, Panhandle has proved worthy of its preseason No. 6 ranking, but the team’s coach knows his group needs to continue improving in order to reach its goals.
“Got to be better on Monday than we were on Friday,” Ashley said. “Monday, we’ve got to walk off from practice and be better. On Tuesday, we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to really focus on things we’re not good at. We have to take a long hard look at film, and you have to have a plan. Everybody has to buy into the plan.”
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Why West Point is the ‘perfect fit’ for Panhandle football star Broxton Robinson
Reporting by Randall Sweet, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
