The Classical Purple will face off against the Johnston Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Classical sitting on eight straight victories dating back to last season and Johnston on five.
Classical is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: Ponaganset, who was ranked 16th at the time (Classical was ranked 13th). The Purple blew past the Chieftains 35-15 on Saturday. Considering the Purple have won five games by more than 19 points this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
The critical scores for Classical came from Coby Tavares, Tahmeed Moshood, Josiah Nyakoon, Silas Mckay, and Bam Adebayo.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Johnston). They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Pilgrim 43-7. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Classical better keep an eye on Stephen O'Brien. He was instrumental in Johnston's win, rushing for 67 yards and one TD, while also picking up 47 receiving yards and one score. Those 67 rushing yards gave O'Brien a new career-high. Ethan Archambeault was another key player, throwing for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only eight passes.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Johnston proved: they limited Pilgrim to a paltry three yards per carry. The Panthers didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 19.8.
Classical's win bumped their record up to 7-0. As for Johnston, their victory bumped their record up to 7-1.
Everything came up roses for Classical against Johnston in their previous matchup back in November of 2024, as the squad secured a 45-7 win. Do the Purple 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
