Football Game Preview: Cypress Lake Panthers vs. Lemon Bay Manta Rays

The Cypress Lake Panthers will face off against the Lemon Bay Manta Rays at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.

Cypress Lake will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up seven points on October 3rd, then bounced right back against Island Coast last Friday. The Panthers took their game with ease, bagging a 51-7 victory over the Gators. The win continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Gators: they've now won five in a row.

One reason for the win was Cypress Lake's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Zayne Kimpland was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up two himself. Cypress Lake received some extra help from Audrique Noel, whose fumble return for a touchdown made for one of the most unforgettable moments.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Lemon Bay). They claimed a resounding 52-0 victory over East Lee County. The Manta Rays pushed the score to 38-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Jaguars had no chance of recovering from.

Lemon Bay had a senior duo take command as Carlos Serrano rushed for 163 yards and two scores while picking up 9.6 yards per carry and Drew Moormann rushed for 28 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Serrano's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 120 rushing yards.

Lemon Bay was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 271 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 271 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.

Lemon Bay's win bumped their record up to 3-5. As for Cypress Lake, their victory bumped their record up to 5-3.

Everything came up roses for Cypress Lake against Lemon Bay in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as the squad secured a 47-6 win. In that contest, the Panthers amassed a halftime lead of 26-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.