‘Odessa El Paso Strong’: Franklin Cougars to present Permian Panthers signed banner

Less than a week after being on the receiving end of an act of kindness, the Franklin Cougars are paying it forward.

Franklin was presented a banner that read “El Paso Strong” by its week one opponent, the Rio Rancho Cleveland Storm. Cleveland players delivered the signed banner to the Cougar captains at midfield prior to kickoff.

“It meant a lot to us,” Franklin quarterback Danny Walther said.

Now the Cougars are paying it forward as they get set to travel to Odessa, the site of another mass shooting the day after their week one win.

Franklin will present a signed banner to the Permian Panthers that reads “Odessa El Paso Strong.”

“Once you heard about the tragedies going on over there, just the craziness of the whole situation, we felt like we needed to do something to reach out to them,” Franklin head coach Darren Walker said.

“It’s really hard what most of them are going through,” Franklin running back Ethan Bustillos said. “We just want to send our love and condolences to the other team and show that we can support and help them through this.”

Franklin travels to Odessa to take on Permian Thursday at 6 p.m. El Paso time. Look for highlights of the game on ABC-7 at 10 on Thursday.

KVIA 2019