After each having a week off, the Cocoa Tigers and the Newberry Panthers will shake off the rust and duke it out at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Cocoa's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed two weeks ago. They blew past Rockledge, posting a 36-0 victory. The win continues a trend for the Tigers in their matchups with the Raiders: they've now won six in a row.
Champ Smith
| 10/30/25 @ Rockledge | 236 |
| 10/24/25 @ Astronaut | 195 |
| 10/17/25 vs The Villages Charter | 200 |
| 10/03/25 @ Norland | 46 |
| 09/12/25 @ Heritage | 118 |
| + 2 more games |
Champ Smith looked great while leading his team to the win, throwing for 236 yards and one TD while completing 79.2% of his passes, and also rushing for 53 yards on only seven carries. That's the most passing yards he has posted since back in August. Axzavious 'Zay' Hawkins was Smith's top target, picking up 88 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Meanwhile, Newberry made easy work of Trinity Catholic two weeks ago and carried off a 40-16 victory.
The win got Newberry back to even at 5-5. As for Cocoa, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
Everything came up roses for Cocoa against Newberry in their previous matchup back in November of 2024, as the squad secured a 40-3 victory. Do the Tigers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
