Football Recap: Gadsden Comes Up Short in High-Profile Game with Goddard

Gadsden faced Goddard in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. The Panthers were just a hair shy of victory and fell 28-27 to the Rockets. The Panthers were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Rockets apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in September of 2024.

JUAN RIOS

Rushing Yards

09/26/25 @ Goddard	142
09/19/25 vs Artesia	102
09/13/25 @ Mayfield	150

Gadsden lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was JUAN RIOS, who rushed for 142 yards and two scores. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 102 rushing yards. DEION TORRES was another key player, gaining 94 total yards and two touchdowns.

This is the second loss in a row for Gadsden and nudges their season record down to 4-2. As for Goddard, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-2 record this season.

We've got plenty of inter-district action coming up soon. Gadsden will challenge rival Roswell at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Goddard is set to take on their familiar foe Deming at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.