Football Preview: Pattonsburg Panthers vs. King City Wildkats
Pattonsburg is 0-4 against King City since September of 2021 but things could change on Friday. The Pattonsburg Panthers will head out to square off against the King City Wildkats at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Pattonsburg took a loss when they played away from home two weeks ago, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They breezed by Stanberry at home to the tune of 58-22. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Panthers as it put an end to their four-game losing streak dating back to last season.
It was another big night for Camden Griffith, who threw for 235 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries. He didn't just play on offense: he also picked up a sack, forced a fumble, and forced a fumble. Gavin Humphrey also helped out with an impressive 94 receiving yards.
Pattonsburg's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB eight times. The heavy lifting was done by Bryson Clark and Collin Mason, who racked up four sacks between them. Mason also set a new season high mark in total tackles with four. Pattonsburg got some further help from Jace Estrada: he picked up a sack and made 12 total tackles.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask King City). They skirted past Princeton 64-62. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Wildkats.
King City relied on the efforts of Graham Medsker, who rushed for 236 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry, and Landon Carlson, who rushed for 183 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 10.8 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Medsker is now averaging an impressive 129.5 rushing yards per game.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, King City was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 420 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
King City's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Cooper Mooney and Carter Heinrich. Mooney is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last ten games he's played dating back to last season.
Pattonsburg's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-3. As for King City, the victory got them back to even at 2-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's game: Pattonsburg has been excellent in the air this season, having averaged 305.8 passing yards per game. It's a different story for King City, though, as they've been averaging only 53. How will they fare against such a dominant passing game?
Pattonsburg came up short against King City in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 74-68. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of King City's Darwin Bowden, who threw for 293 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 11.7 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 50 yards. Now that Pattonsburg knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
