Football Preview: Father Lopez Green Wave vs. Palatka Panthers
The Father Lopez Green Wave will take on the Palatka Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Father Lopez is no doubt hoping to put an end to a seven-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Father Lopez's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Halifax Academy on Friday. They were beaten by the Knights 38-0. While getting shut out isn't ideal, the Green Wave haven't been shut out since back in August.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Palatka). They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Keystone Heights 40-0. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 155th, while the Indians are ranked 393rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Palatka can attribute much of their success to KJ Wright, who picked up 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and Justin Fells, who rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries. Fells' longest rush was for an impressive 62 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
Palatka was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 256 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their rushing yard total in three consecutive matchups.
Palatka didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Sheldon Brown.
Father Lopez's loss dropped their record down to 0-7. As for Palatka, their win bumped their record up to 6-3.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
