Football Preview: Saint Jo Panthers vs. Avalon Eagles
The Saint Jo Panthers will take on the Avalon Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Saint Jo knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past eight contests -- so hopefully Avalon likes a good challenge.
Saint Jo is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Union Hill just ended the team's nine-game winning streak on Friday. They fell 40-32 to the Bulldogs. That makes it the first time this season the Panthers have let down their home crowd.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Devin Stewart and Ej Mowery. Mowery had a great game and rushed for 200 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 8.0 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Stewart was balling out in the loss, rushing for 127 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.9 yards per carry, and also throwing for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Avalon put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They breezed by Covington to the tune of 68-19. Considering the Eagles have won nine matchups by more than 20 points this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Josh Novak continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 202 yards and five touchdowns on only 13 carries, while also throwing for 39 yards and a touchdown. He has been hot for a while, having posted two or more rushing touchdowns the last 12 times he's played.
Avalon wouldn't let Covington keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Avalon can thank Jesus Aguilar and Evan Jacks for forcing both of them.
Avalon pushed their record up to 10-0 with the win, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 12.5 points per game. As for Saint Jo, their loss was their first of the season and makes their record 9-1.
Everything came up roses for Saint Jo against Avalon in their previous matchup back in November of 2019, as the squad secured a 52-22 victory. In that match, Saint Jo amassed a halftime lead of 30-10, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
