The Maplewood Panthers will head out to take on the Haywood Tomcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Maplewood took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. Their defense stepped up to hand Glencliff a 54-0 shutout. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Panthers just coasted through the last quarter.
Jayon Washington had a dynamite game for Maplewood, rushing for 64 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, while also throwing for 99 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes. The dominant performance gave Washington a new career-high in rushing yards. Christian Beatie also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Maplewood was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 242 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Maplewood's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Antonio Batey. Maplewood got some further help from Jaylan Strong: he picked up 0.5 sacks, forced a fumble, and forced a fumble.
Meanwhile, Haywood took their match at home on Friday with ease, bagging a 43-13 win over Obion County. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 36-6.
Haywood got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Kemonte Williams out in front who rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Another signal caller making a difference was Carson Graves, who threw for 129 yards and two touchdowns on only five passes.
Maplewood's record is now 2-3. As for Haywood, their win was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-1.
Maplewood was taken down by Haywood 42-0 in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Haywood's Camarion Miller, who rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries. Now that Maplewood knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
