Football Preview: Derby Panthers vs. South Cougars
Derby is 9-0 against South since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Derby Panthers will take on the South Cougars at 7:00 p.m. Derby will be strutting in after a victory while South will be coming in after a loss.
Derby's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They breezed by Haysville Campus at home to the tune of 77-0. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked second, while the Colts are ranked 119th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Drew Kemp and Arieus Finley were among the main playmakers for Derby as the former rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown and the latter rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries. John Lujan was in the mix as well, providing Derby with two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Derby was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 304 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Derby'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 Issac Nikolas and Cooper Williams. Derby got some further help from Payton Pray: he picked up two sacks and made five total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, South was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their 11th straight defeat. They were dealt a 55-22 loss at the hands of Maize South.
Derby's win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-0. As for South, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-2.
Everything came up roses for Derby against South in their previous meeting back in September of 2023 as the squad secured a 63-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Derby since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
