Football Game Preview: Central Panthers vs. South Albany Redhawks

The Central Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the South Albany Redhawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. South Albany took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Central, who comes in off a win.

Central took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They breezed past Corvallis to the tune of 42-13. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Panthers considering their 13-point performance the game before.

JT Girod

Passer Rating

10/10/25 vs Corvallis	139.8
09/12/25 @ Forest Grove	123.1
08/29/25 @ Eagle Point	112.5
09/05/25 vs Beaverton	108.8
09/26/25 vs Silverton	101.8
+ 1 more games

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Central to victory, but perhaps none more so than JT Girod, who threw for 204 yards and three TDs on only 18 passes, and also punched in one touchdown on the ground. Girod's passing game has become a key predictor of the Panthers' success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 110 or higher, but only 0-3 otherwise. Braden O'Sullivan helped Girod out on the ground, rushing for 100 yards and one score on only five carries.

Central's run defense was locked in: Corvallis could only muster 1.5 yards per carry. The Panthers' run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 3.73 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 4.1 on average over their last three games.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 46-14, which was the final score in South Albany's tilt against Lebanon on Friday. The loss continues a trend for the Redhawks in their meetings with the Warriors: they've now lost three in a row.

The win got Central back to even at 3-3. As for South Albany, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-4.

Central was taken down by South Albany 41-6 in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Panthers were down 28-6.