Football Game Preview: Manchester Panthers vs. Girard Indians

The Manchester Panthers will challenge the Girard Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Manchester is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They breezed past Edison to the tune of 45-14. The victory continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Wildcats: they've now won three in a row.

Meanwhile, Girard took their game two weeks ago with ease, bagging a 56-8 win over McKinley. Given the Indians' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio football rankings (they are ranked 33rd, while the Red Dragons are ranked 601st) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

Girard's win came from a few key players Manchester will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was AJ Pearson, who threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns while completing 92.3% of his passes, and also rushed for 31 yards and one TD. Girard's leading receiver Mario Lipinski was Pearson's top target yet again, picking up 115 receiving yards and a pair of scores, while also punching in one touchdown on the ground.

Girard was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 218 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 150 rushing yards in eight consecutive contests.

Girard's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB four times. That dominant display was truly a team effort as four different players picked up one apiece.

Girard's victory bumped their record up to 10-0. As for Manchester, their win bumped their record up to 8-3.