Football Game Preview: McKinney Lions vs. Plano East Panthers

McKinney is on a five-game streak of home losses dating back to last season, and Plano East a six-game streak of away losses also dating back to last season. However, someone's due for a change in luck on Friday. The McKinney Lions will welcome the Plano East Panthers at 7:00 p.m. Plano East took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on McKinney, who comes in off a win.

McKinney is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took down McKinney Boyd 29-15 on Thursday. The Lions haven't had any issues with the Broncos recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Plano East duked it out with Plano on Thursday. The Panthers fell just short of the Wildcats by a score of 17-15. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 251st, while the Wildcats are ranked 85th).

McKinney will have to contain Travis Agee as he made an impact in Plano East's last game. He rushed for 105 yards and two scores on only 14 carries.

Plano East didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jordan Stafford and MJ Haggan.

Plano East's defeat dropped their record down to 1-7. As for McKinney, their win bumped their record up to 3-5.

McKinney barely slipped by Plano East in their previous meeting back in November of 2024, winning 24-23. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Panthers' Jackson Hays, who threw for 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and also rushed for 67 yards on only five carries. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for the Lions to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.