Football Game Preview: Liberty Patriots vs. Palo Verde Panthers

The Liberty Patriots will face off against the Palo Verde Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Liberty is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They blew past Bishop Gorman 41-21. The win was familiar territory for the Patriots, who have now won four matchups in a row.

Kaylie Phillips

Passing Yards

02/11/25 @ Bishop Gorman	290
02/03/25 @ Las Vegas	213
01/30/25 vs Basic	117
01/27/25 vs Centennial	219
01/22/25 @ Desert Oasis	272
+ 7 more games

Liberty's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Kaylie Phillips, who threw for 290 yards and one touchdown. That's the most passing yards Phillips has posted since back in December of 2024. Brinlee Yurek was another key receiver, picking up 77 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Palo Verde faced Basic in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. Everything went Palo Verde's way against Basic as Palo Verde made off with a 33-12 win. The Panthers haven't had any issues with the Wolves recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.

Liberty's win bumped their record up to 15-4. As for Palo Verde, their victory bumped their record up to 20-2.

Liberty might still be hurting after the 32-12 loss they got from Palo Verde in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Palo Verde's Samantha Manzo, who rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.3 yards per carry, and also picked up 32 receiving yards and one touchdown. Now that Liberty knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.