Football Preview: Woodland Park Panthers vs. Florence Huskies
Two dominant signal callers in Marqus Joseph Schoenberger and Noah Howard are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Woodland Park Panthers will welcome the Florence Huskies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Woodland Park will be coming into the game with an undefeated record on the line.
Last Friday, Woodland Park didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Lamar, but they still walked away with a 24-20 win. The 24-point effort marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Joseph Schoenberger was his usual excellent self, throwing for 170 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 30 yards. He also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, making six total tackles and defending two passes.
Woodland Park's defense stepped up as well, laying out Jacob Dunning. four times. Lamar's QB won't forget Matteo Pizarro anytime soon given he sacked him twice. Pizarro is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last four games he's played dating back to last season. Woodland Park got some further help from Parker Shreeve: he forced a fumble, made seven total tackles (1.0 for loss), and defended three passes.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Florence). They took their matchup at home on Friday with ease, bagging a 28-0 victory over Banning Lewis Academy. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Huskies have posted since October 6, 2023.
It was another big night for Howard, who rushed for 205 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.2 yards per carry, and also threw for 33 yards and a touchdown. Those 205 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Brady Hunsberger was another key player, rushing for 59 yards and two touchdowns.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Florence was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 286 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 151 rushing yards in seven consecutive games dating back to last season.
Florence didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Makai Hight and Jaret Lozano.
Woodland Park pushed their record up to 6-0 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Florence, their win bumped their record up to 2-4.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Woodland Park has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 176.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Florence struggles in that department as they've been averaging 203.8. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Woodland Park might still be hurting after the 26-2 defeat they got from Florence when the teams last played back in September of 2023. Thankfully for Woodland Park, Luguse Nuss (who rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries) 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
