Football Preview: Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Magnolia Panthers
The Arkansas Razorbacks will venture away from home to square off against the Magnolia Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Arkansas is looking for their season's first victory.
Arkansas came up short against El Dorado two weeks ago, falling 42-20. While losing is never fun, the Razorbacks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arkansas football rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while the Wildcats are ranked 19th).
Despite the defeat, Arkansas had strong showings from Tony Noble Jr, who rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries, and Deandre Burnell, who picked up 69 receiving yards. Burnell got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 59 yards.
Meanwhile, Magnolia didn't have quite enough to beat Hamburg on Friday and fell 28-26. The loss was the Panthers' first of the season.
Magnolia might have lost, but man, J2 Young was a machine: he rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry. Magnolia also got help from Antonio Brooks, who showed off his sure hands for 82 receiving yards.
Even though they lost, Magnolia was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 258 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 179 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Arkansas' record is now 0-3. As for Magnolia, their loss was their first of the season and makes their record 2-1.
Arkansas took their win against Magnolia when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a conclusive 28-7. The rematch might be a little tougher for Arkansas since the squad 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
