The Newberry Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Palatka Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Newberry's defense has only allowed 17.8 points per game this season, so Palatka's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Newberry took a loss when they played away from home on September 6th, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed last Friday. They blew past Keystone Heights 48-0 at home. The high-scoring effort was just what the Panthers needed considering they were shutout in their previous game.
Kaleb Woods was his usual excellent self, rushing for 194 yards and four touchdowns on only 11 carries. He really tore up the turf during one magnificent 81-yard run. Another big playmaker for Newberry was Elijah Beckford, who returned a punt for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Palatka's offense rose to the challenge against a Sharks defense that boasted an average of only 17.4 points allowed on Friday. Palatka came out on top against Nature Coast Tech by a score of 34-26. The win was nothing new for the Panthers as they're now sitting on four straight.
Palatka's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Justin Fells led the charge by rushing for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Fells a new career-high in rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Lawrence Evans, who rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Palatka was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 295 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
The victory got Newberry back to even at 2-2. As for Palatka, their record now sits at 4-1.
Newberry was able to grind out a solid win over Palatka when the teams last played back in September of 2021, winning 37-30. Will Newberry repeat their success, or does Palatka have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
