The North Pole Patriots will take on the Palmer Moose at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (North Pole has five straight wins, Palmer has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
North Pole is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alaska's top teams: Eagle River, who was ranked eighth in their home state at the time (North Pole was ranked seventh). North Pole walked away with a 17-8 victory over Eagle River on Saturday.
A big part of North Pole's win came down to the chemistry between Braiden Martin and his top target Devin Cooper-Jackson. Martin rushed for 18 yards and a touchdown while Cooper-Jackson rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries.
North Pole'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 A.J. Melvin and Zach Denny.
Meanwhile, Palmer ended up a good deal behind West Valley on Friday and lost 32-14.
North Pole's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-1. As for Palmer, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.
North Pole was able to grind out a solid win over Palmer in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, winning 21-14. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Palmer's Kaden Henry (Kj), who rushed for 186 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.8 yards per carry. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will North Pole still be able to contain Henry (Kj)? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
