Football Preview: Morehead Panthers vs. West Stokes Wildcats
Morehead is 0-3 against West Stokes since October of 2021 but things could change on Friday. The Morehead Panthers will look to defend their home field against the West Stokes Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Having struggled with 14 losses in a row dating back to last season, Morehead finally turned things around against McMichael on Friday. They blew past the Phoenix 27-0 on the road. The Panthers' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Morehead can attribute much of their success to Braxton Carter, who rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Morehead was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 246 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Another reason for the win was Morehead's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Quadir Rodgers was especially locked on to McMichael's QB and sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, West Stokes had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They really took it to the Red Raiders for the full four quarters, racking up a 33-0 victory at home. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 81st, while the Red Raiders are ranked 230th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lindann Fleming continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries, while also picking up 57 receiving yards and a touchdown. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 101.6 rushing yards per game. Aydden Cherry was another key player, rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries.
Morehead's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-4. As for West Stokes, they pushed their record up to 4-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season.
Morehead took a serious blow against West Stokes when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 52-6. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Morehead was down 36-6.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
