Football Preview: Antioch Panthers vs. Pittsburg Pirates
Antioch hasn't had much luck against Pittsburg recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Antioch Panthers will face off against the Pittsburg Pirates at 7:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Antioch comes in on three and Pittsburg on five.
Last Friday, Antioch had just enough and edged Heritage out 15-13.
It was another big night for Curtis Tucker, who rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He is becoming a predictor of Antioch's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 4-1 (and 1-3 when he doesn't).
Antioch was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 203 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pittsburg). They never let Deer Valley onto the board and left with a 76-0 win on Friday. The Pirates might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matches by 27 points or more this season.
Marley Alcantara was his usual excellent self, throwing for 101 yards and four touchdowns on only nine passes. Another player making a difference was Jamar Searcy, who gained 51 total yards and two touchdowns.
Pittsburg didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Caronn Patterson and Etene Pritchard.
Antioch's victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-4. As for Pittsburg, their record is now 8-1.
Friday's game will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Tucker and Searcy. Tucker just won't slow down this season and has run in 11 touchdowns while averaging 116.4 rushing yards per game. Searcy has been a dominant force too and has caught 4 touchdowns while averaging 16.8 receiving yards per game.
Antioch took a serious blow against Pittsburg when the teams last played back in November of 2023, falling 55-6. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pittsburg's Elijah Bow, who rushed for 67 yards and three touchdowns. Now that Antioch knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
