Football Game Preview: Peoria Panthers vs. St. Mary's Knights

Peoria is preparing for their first region matchup of the season on Friday. They will take on the St. Mary's Knights at 7:00 p.m. St. Mary's took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Peoria, who comes in off a win.

Peoria is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Poston Butte, posting a 43-14 victory. The Panthers haven't had any issues with the Broncos recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.

Javon Bell had another great game (as he tends to do), rushing for 141 yards and three scores on only 12 carries. Cristian Zarate was another key rusher, rushing for 115 yards and one touchdown on only 11 carries.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Peoria was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 288 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

Diego Vasquez

Total Tackles

09/05/25 @ Kellis	2
08/29/25 @ Deer Valley	3
09/12/25 @ Sahuaro	6
09/19/25 vs Cactus	8
09/27/25 vs Poston Butte	11

Peoria didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Marcell Colenberg, Diego Vasquez, and Erik Gonzalez picked up one apiece. Vasquez also set a new season-high mark in total tackles with 11.

Meanwhile, St. Mary's game on Friday was all tied up 7-7 at the half, but sadly for them it didn't stay that way. They fell 21-14 to Gila Ridge. The contest marked the Knights' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Peoria's victory bumped their record up to 2-3. As for St. Mary's, their loss was their first of the season and makes their record 4-1.

Everything came up roses for Peoria against St. Mary's when the teams last played back in October of 2017, as the team secured a 52-10 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.