Football Preview: St. John Paul II Panthers vs. North Florida Christian Eagles
The St. John Paul II Panthers will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against the North Florida Christian Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
St. John Paul II is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They came up short against IMG Academy White last Friday, falling 48-27. The game was a 21-21 toss-up at halftime, but the Panthers couldn't quite close it out.
St. John Paul II's defeat came about despite a quality game from Gavin Ford, who threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns. What's more, Ford also racked up 15 rushing yards, the mosthe's had since back in October of 2023. Gavin Yates-Lyons also deserves a mention for his punt return touchdown.
Meanwhile, North Florida Christian was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a hard 28-10 fall against Valwood. While losing is never fun, the Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 445th in Florida, while the Valiants are ranked 199th in Georgia).
Despite the defeat, North Florida Christian saw an underclassman step up: Marcus Rosier forced a fumble and made 14 total tackles. Arius Burt showed off some serious burst, turning on the afterburners on one carry for 51 yards.
North Florida Christian wouldn't let Valwood keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. North Florida Christian can thank Rosier and Jaxon Gustafson for forcing both of them. Rosier has been hot recently, having also posted six or more total tackles the last three times he's played.
St. John Paul II's record is now 1-3. As for North Florida Christian, their record now sits at 1-4.
St. John Paul II came up short against North Florida Christian in their previous meeting back in November of 2023, falling 21-14. Thankfully for St. John Paul II, Jp Pickles (who rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown while picking up 10.2 yards per carry, and also threw for 185 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
