Football Preview: Pioneer Panthers vs. North Judson-San Pierre Bluejays
Pioneer has won three straight games at home, while North Judson-San Pierre has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Pioneer Panthers will host the North Judson-San Pierre Bluejays at 6:30 p.m. Pioneer is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 35.5 points per game this season.
Pioneer is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Triton just ended the team's five-game winning streak on Friday. They took a 28-21 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Trojans. The Panthers have struggled against the Trojans recently, as their game on Friday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the defeat, Pioneer got top-tier performance from Micah Rans, who rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries, and also threw for 59 yards and a touchdown while completing 75% of his passes. Rans really tore up the turf during one magnificent 83-yard run. Noah Vanmeter was another key player, rushing for 121 yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Pioneer was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 282 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 159 rushing yards in eight consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, North Judson-San Pierre humbled Caston with a 69-3 victory. Fans of the Bluejays have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
North Judson-San Pierre had a senior duo take command as Brock Benson rushed for 222 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries and Kole Wilcox rushed for 139 yards and four touchdowns on only six carries. Those 222 rushing yards gave Benson a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Aiden Mcgowen, who rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Pioneer's loss dropped their record down to 6-2. As for North Judson-San Pierre, their victory bumped their record up to 8-0.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Pioneer has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 286.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Judson-San Pierre struggles in that department as they've been averaging 389.6. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Pioneer might still be hurting after the 40-14 defeat they got from North Judson-San Pierre when the teams last played back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of North Judson-San Pierre's Jesiah Mcdaniel, who rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries, and also threw for 84 yards and a touchdown while completing 71.4% of his passes. Now that Pioneer knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
