The North Pole Patriots will face off against the Palmer Moose at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (North Pole has five straight victories, Palmer has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
North Pole is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alaska's top teams: Eagle River, who was ranked eighth in their home state at the time (North Pole was ranked seventh). North Pole came out on top against Eagle River by a score of 17-8 on Saturday.
A big part of North Pole's win came down to the chemistry between Braiden Martin and his top target Devin Cooper-Jackson. Martin rushed for 18 yards and a touchdown while Cooper-Jackson rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries.
North Pole's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of A.J. Melvin and Zach Denny.
Meanwhile, Palmer lost to West Valley at home by a 32-14 margin on Friday.
North Pole pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. As for Palmer, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-4.
North Pole was able to grind out a solid win over Palmer in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, winning 21-14. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Palmer's Kaden Henry (Kj), who rushed for 186 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.8 yards per carry. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will North Pole still be able to contain Henry (Kj)? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
