Football Recap: Palo Verde Falls Short Against Ranked Centennial + How To Watch

Palo Verde faced Centennial in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. The Panthers fell just short of the Bulldogs by a score of 26-24. If the Panthers were looking for revenge after losing 26-20 to the Bulldogs when the teams met back in August of 2023, then they'll just have to keep looking.

Palo Verde's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Leo Templeton, who picked up 94 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The bulk of those receiving yards came from one huge play: a catch that gained an incredible 84 yards. Rio Pascal was another key back, rushing for 79 yards and one TD.

Brogan Church had an outrageously good game for Centennial as he rushed for 172 yards and three scores while picking up 10.1 yards per carry. Church has become a key player for the Bulldogs: the team is undefeated when he posts at least 80 rushing yards, but 1-3 otherwise.

This is the second loss in a row for Palo Verde and nudges their season record down to 3-5. As for Centennial, they now have a winning record of 4-3.

We've got plenty of inter-league action coming up soon. Palo Verde will square off against rival Shadow Ridge at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Centennial is set to challenge their familiar foe Mojave at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.