The King Panthers will challenge the Clear Falls Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
King is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They really took it to Channelview for the full four quarters, racking up a 76-7 victory. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 63-0.
Dionne Sims continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 199 yards and a pair of TDs. He was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 56 yards. Antwon Sanders also helped out as he racked up 105 rushing yards.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to King's defense and their three sacks. Camryn Collins refused to say out of the backfield, picking up two sacks all by himself. My'Kah Laster got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Clear Falls, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat Clear Lake 67-28. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Knights' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 333rd, while the Falcons are ranked 985th).
King better keep an eye on Kyden Barker. He was instrumental in Clear Falls' win, throwing for 348 yards and seven touchdowns while completing 88.2% of his passes, and also rushing for 64 yards. Those seven passing touchdowns gave Barker a new career-high. Brooks Ponshock was in the mix as well, providing Clear Falls with two scores.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Clear Falls proved: they limited Clear Lake to a paltry 3.5 yards per carry. The team can thank Briggs Worthington for the heroic effort on defense: he. Clear Falls' run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.13 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 4.43 on average over their last three games.
Clear Falls' win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. Those home victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 14.5 points on average over those games. As for King, their record is now 8-2.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. King has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 325.7 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Clear Falls has preferred to attack from the air: they average 330.1 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
King strolled past Clear Falls when the teams last played back in November of 2023 by a score of 37-20. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Knights' Landon Vessel, who rushed for 102 yards and a pair of TDs, and also threw for 230 yards on 20 of 34 attempts. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for the Panthers to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
