Football Preview: Gadsden Panthers vs. Lovington Wildcats
Gadsden is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Lovington is on a five-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. After each having a week off, both will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Gadsden is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Roswell, who was ranked eighth in their home state at the time (Gadsden was ranked 19th). Gadsden took a blow against Roswell last Friday, falling 48-7. The matchup marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Meanwhile, Lovington scored the most points they've had all season last Friday, but it wasn't enough. They and Mayfield were almost perfectly matched up, but Lovington suffered a 50-49 defeat.
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. Lovington is undefeated when Prudencio posts 250 or more passing yards, but 1-2 otherwise. 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.
Gadsden's loss dropped their record down to 5-2. As for Lovington, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 5-2.
Gadsden was taken down by Lovington 52-0 in their previous matchup back in October of 2021. Thankfully for Gadsden, Ashton Aranda (who threw for 324 yards and seven touchdowns on only 19 passes, and also rushed for 42 yards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
