The Bend Lava Bears will square off against the Redmond Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Redmond is hoping to do what Mazama couldn't last Friday: put an end to Bend's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Bend blew past Mazama, posting a 35-7 victory on the road. Given the Lava Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Oregon football rankings (they are ranked 13th, while the Vikings are ranked 72nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Redmond). They blew past St. Helens 53-6 at home on Friday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Panthers.
Jack Snyder and Eli Pupo were among the main playmakers for Redmond as the former rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown and the latter gained 85 total yards and three touchdowns.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Redmond was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 286 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 197 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Redmond's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Jayden Thynes, Ethan Powell, and JJ Browning picked up one apiece.
Bend's win bumped their record up to 4-0. As for Redmond, the victory got them back to even at 2-2.
Bend strolled past Redmond in their previous matchup back in September of 2023 by a score of 19-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bend since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
