The Palatka Panthers are taking a road trip to challenge the Nature Coast Tech Sharks at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Palatka's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last three contests.
Palatka's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Santa Fe 35-0 at home. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 152nd, while the Raiders are ranked 470th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
KJ Wright and Lawrence Evans were among the main playmakers for Palatka as the former gained 166 total yards and two touchdowns and the latter rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown. Wright showed off some serious burst, lighting up the secondary with a catch for 65 yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Palatka was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 200 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Meanwhile, Nature Coast Tech's undefeated season came to an end after three games on Friday. They and Hudson were almost perfectly matched up, but Nature Coast Tech suffered a 20-19 loss. The defeat continues a trend for the Sharks in their matchups with the Cobras: they've now lost three in a row.
Palatka's win bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Nature Coast Tech, their loss was their first of the season and also makes their record 3-1.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
