With a playoff mentality seemingly instilled in the city’s waters, Abbott cruised to a 58-8 mercy rule victory over the Cougars on Friday night at Cougar Stadium.

The No. 2-seeded Panthers (10-0, 4-0) clinched their fifth straight district championship with the win and will face Chester in the bi-district playoff round on Thursday at Oakwood.

Aquila (9-1, 3-1), the No. 7 seed, played with Abbott in the fourth quarter, a rarity for the Panthers. The Cougars were about four minutes away from joining Oglesby, ranked No. 3 in the state in the Class 1A Division, on Friday. II as the only team to avoid a mercy rule loss to Abbott this season.

With the playoffs on the horizon, first-year Abbott head coach Kyle Crawford said the crosstown rivalry matchup was the kind of test they wanted.

“What better way to get ready for playoff mode than to be in a playoff atmosphere and have a respected opponent who goes after it and pushes you?” said Crawford. “And we figured that out.”

Aquilla scored first and remained within 12 points at halftime, but the Panthers opened the game with 24 points in just seven minutes of the third quarter. All four of those goals were scored by 2022 Super Centex Six-Man Player of the Year Riley Sustala.

Cougars head coach Shannon Williams said she was proud of her team’s fight against an overwhelming opponent.

“I mean, you want to see games like that,” Williams said. “We knew we were going to go, we haven’t played well against Abbott since I’ve been here and we told them no matter what, I just want to be proud and play hard.

“And at halftime, everybody felt good, man, and then all of a sudden they got fired up and put our heads down.”

Williams said his team will play in Burkeville, but he is unsure of the time, day or location.

Sustala did a little bit of everything on Friday. The senior ran 13 times for 218 yards and five rushing TDs, adding 57 yards and two scores through the air. Sustala scored in the first, third and fourth quarters, ending with a 39-yard run to end the game at 45 points by the mercy rule.

Crawford said Sustala focused on a different level Friday.

“When Riley gets in a good headspace and really, really locks in, you can see the difference,” Crawford said.

Sustala finished the regular season among the six-man district leaders with 1,192 yards rushing and 32 TDs on the ground. That works out to just over 119 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns per game.

But Crawford said the defense deserved love after holding Aquilla scoreless following the opening drive. The Cougars marched on a harrowing 13-play, 60-yard scoring drive to open the game and were kept out of the end zone the rest of the way.

Aquilla averaged 4.6 yards per play on this scoring drive, which featured senior Edward Anderson rushing forward one yard. Abbott tightened up even more and held the Cougars’ offense to under two yards per play at halftime.

The Panthers’ defense held the Cougars to just 138 yards of total offense on the night.

Freshman TC Hennig led the way with 63 rushing yards on 29 carries, but struggled through the air, completing only 2 of 7 passes for 15 yards and an interception that eventually turned into a pick-six.

Williams said Hennig has special potential going forward.

“And that’s a big game for a freshman to come in and try to play,” he said. “And he’s playing against some really quality athletes. I’m so proud of him. I’m proud of all of them.”

Abbott took a 20-8 lead into the half thanks to Sustala’s 46-yard rushing TD, Joey Pavelka’s 29-yard TD and Pavelka’s 52-yard pick-six. Aquilla’s seven-minute drive largely kept the ball out of the Panthers’ hands.

But Sustala took control in the second half, finding the seams and running untouched into the end zone from 42, 39, 37 and 34 yards out.

“I think early in the game, every time he tried to cut, there were people waiting for him,” Williams said of his defense. “And in the second half, instead of trying to cut back, he just kept going wide and got wider and wider and then he was gone.”

Sustala was rounded out by Pavelka, who finished with two catches for 53 yards and two TDs, and Paxton Pustejovsky, who took advantage of his one catch off the arm of Hogan Warren for a 17-yard TD.

Now Crawford and the Panthers are preparing for what they hope will be another deep postseason run. Abbott Lost in Class 1A Div. I say quarter final last year.

Crawford said the state championship mentality needs to be instilled well before the regular season finale.

“You can’t be a championship team when it comes time to win a championship,” Crawford said. “For games like this, that foundation and everything needs to be laid. You can’t wait until the week of Abbott and Aquilla for the regional championship because you suddenly want to get to the championship level.

“That’s why we pick and choose details every week. … We know the expectation.”