Football Preview: Pinkston Vikings vs. Panther Creek Panthers
The Pinkston Vikings will venture away from home to take on the Panther Creek Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Pinkston is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Conrad to the tune of 60-8 on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Vikings have posted since September 1, 2023.
Pinkston's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Tawnerien Williams, who rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries. Williams has become a key player for Pinkston: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-6 otherwise. Pinkston also got a significant boost from Coleman Oby, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 114 yards.
Pinkston was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 306 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 266 rushing yards in five consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Panther Creek won against Aubrey last Friday with 41 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. Panther Creek took their game with ease, bagging a 41-14 win over Sulphur Springs. The result was nothing new for the Panthers, who have now won six contests by 27 points or more so far this season.
Graylyn Fry was his usual excellent self, throwing for 271 yards and four touchdowns on only 18 passes, while also punching in a touchdown on the ground. He is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played. Cristian Trickett also helped out as he racked up 132 receiving yards.
Panther Creek's victory was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 49.1 points per game. As for Pinkston, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 4-6 record this season.
The upcoming match will be a clash of competing strengths. Pinkston has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 281.2 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Panther Creek has preferred to attack from the air: they average 283.2 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Pinkston and Panther Creek were neck-and-neck in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, but Pinkston came up empty-handed after a 21-20 loss. Can Pinkston avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
