Football Preview: Mountain Grove Panthers vs. Salem Tigers
Mountain Grove has been away from home for two games now, but on Friday they'll finally make their return. A feisty cat fight will be fought when Panthers faces off against the Salem Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Grove knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past three games -- so hopefully Salem likes a good challenge.
Mountain Grove will bounce into Friday's contest after beating Liberty, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Mountain Grove was the clear victor by a 44-24 margin over Liberty on Friday. With that victory, the Panthers brought their scoring average up to 28.8 points per game.
Mountain Grove didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Brody Emery, Kale Gardner, Aden Estep, and Dameon Martin picked up one apiece. The dominant performance also gave Estep a new career-high in rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Mountain Grove was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 397 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 153 rushing yards in six consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Salem came into Friday's matchup having lost nine straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They enjoyed a cozy 28-14 win over Willow Springs on Friday. The Tigers' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
The victory got Mountain Grove back to even at 3-3. As for Salem, their win (their first of the season) made their record 1-5.
Everything came up roses for Mountain Grove against Salem when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 39-0 victory. Will Mountain Grove repeat their success, or does Salem have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
