Football Preview: Lovington Wildcats vs. Gadsden Panthers
A feisty cat fight will be fought when Wildcats challenges the Gadsden Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Lovington is looking to tack on another W to their five-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Lovington is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Mayfield, who was ranked 24th in their home state at the time (Lovington was ranked 11th). Lovington was just a hair shy of victory last Friday and fell 50-49 to Mayfield. One positive for the Wildcats, at least, is that this was the most points they've scored all season.
Lovington might have lost, but man, Mathew Prudencio was a machine: he threw for 348 yards and five touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes, and also rushed for 74 yards on only nine carries. The dominant performance gave Prudencio a new career-high in rushing yards. Jayden Gutierrez was Prudencio's top target, picking up 97 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Lovington wouldn't let Mayfield keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Lovington can thank Chase Terrell and Landon Trevino for forcing both of them. Terrell also set a new season high mark in total tackles with ten.
Even though they lost, Lovington was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 223 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 34 points the game before, Gadsden was a bit more limited in their game last Friday. They took a blow against Roswell, falling 48-7. The loss continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Coyotes: they've now lost four in a row.
Lovington's record now sits at 5-2. As for Gadsden, their record is now an identical 5-2.
Everything came up roses for Lovington against Gadsden in their previous matchup back in October of 2021, as the squad secured a 52-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lovington since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
