Football Preview: Massaponax Panthers vs. Matoaca Warriors
After two games on the road, Massaponax is heading back home. They will welcome the Matoaca Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Massaponax ended up a good deal behind Louisa County and lost 49-34.
Despite the defeat, Massaponax got top-tier performance from Gabriel Newby-Morris, who rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries, and also picked up 34 receiving yards and a touchdown. Newby-Morris' longest rush was for an impressive 51 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
Even though they lost, Massaponax was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 274 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Matoaca won against Warhill last Friday with 35 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. Matoaca blew past Henrico 35-0 on the road. Given Matoaca's advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia football rankings (they are ranked ninth, while Henrico is ranked 134th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Matoaca can attribute much of their success to Bryce Yates, who threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns on only 17 passes, and Trevion Mills, who rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.9 yards per carry. Dillon Newton-Short was another key player, picking up 112 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Matoaca's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Caljuan Tucker and Demarcus Sharper.
Massaponax now has a losing record at 1-2. As for Matoaca, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 2-0.
Massaponax came up short against Matoaca in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 40-27. Thankfully for Massaponax, Ryley Justus (who threw for 353 yards and five touchdowns while completing 76.2% of his passes) 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
