Football Preview: Wallkill Panthers vs. Cornwall Central Dragons
Wallkill hasn't had much luck against Cornwall Central recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Wallkill Panthers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Cornwall Central Dragons at 7:00 p.m. That matchup will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Kent Glasgow and Jordan Bishop.
Wallkill is headed into Friday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fifth straight game on Friday. They received a blow as they fell 34-15 to Warwick. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York football rankings (they are ranked 326th, while the Wildcats are ranked 86th).
Meanwhile, Cornwall Central had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.8 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They blew past the Warriors 48-13 at home. The Dragons' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Ilunga Salerno and he. Salerno rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns while he rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Those 95 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Speaking of playmakers, who could forget Braden Murphy, who went all the way with a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Cornwall Central's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB eight times. Dylan Marrero led the group effort, picking up three of those sacks all by himself. Quadir Truluck also set a new season high mark in total tackles with seven.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Cornwall Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 282 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 155 rushing yards in five consecutive matches.
Wallkill's defeat dropped their record down to 2-5. As for Cornwall Central, their win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-1.
Wallkill was taken down by Cornwall Central 40-0 in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Thankfully for Wallkill, Tyler Vanderpool (who rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries, and also picked up 82 receiving yards and a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
