Fossil Ridge had lost three straight headed into Friday's match, but Malaki Lockhart didn't let it get to three. The Fossil Ridge Panthers skirted past the Denton Broncos 42-40 thanks in part to Lockhart, who threw for 277 yards and five touchdowns while completing 82.6% of his passes, and also rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. Those 107 rushing yards gave him a new career-high.
Jayden Cowan did his part for the team as well, scoring a TD off of 88 receiving yards. The bulk of those receiving yards came from one huge play: a catch that gained an incredible 56 yards.
Fossil Ridge wouldn't let Denton keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Fossil Ridge can thank Kingdom Tatum and Michael Reinoshek for forcing both of them. Tatum also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 16. Fossil Ridge got some further help from Brady Jones: he picked up two sacks and made ten total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Despite the loss, Denton saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Terrance Lopez rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 262 yards and a touchdown. Keshawn Diego got in on the action too, returning a kick for a touchdown.
Fossil Ridge's victory bumped their record up to 2-6. As for Denton, they dropped their record down to 1-6 with the defeat, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season.
Fossil Ridge wasted no time getting back out on the field and has already played their next contest, a 17-7 loss against Brewer on the 24th. As for Denton, they also didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next game, a 55-14 defeat against Ryan on the 25th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
