The Woodland Park Panthers will take on the La Junta Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Having struggled with five losses in a row, Woodland Park turned things around against Manitou Springs on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Mustangs 49-13. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Panthers considering their eight-point performance the game before.
Saie Soto continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 196 yards and five scores while picking up 10.9 yards per carry, and also picking up 35 receiving yards. Demetrius Cecil Gochis got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Woodland Park was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 249 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2024.
Woodland Park didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Cecil Gochis and Nathan Summeril. Cecil Gochis got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Meanwhile, La Junta gave up the first points on Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. They blew past Florence 44-21. The Tigers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by 23 points or more this season.
La Junta's win bumped their record up to 6-2. As for Woodland Park, their victory was their first in the league, bumping their league record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 3-5.
Everything came up roses for Woodland Park against La Junta when the teams last played back in November of 2024, as the squad secured a 34-6 win. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Tigers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
