Palatka's offense rose to the challenge against a Sharks defense that boasted an average of only 17.4 points allowed on Friday. The Palatka Panthers came out on top against the Nature Coast Tech Sharks by a score of 34-26. The victory was familiar territory for the Panthers who have now won four matchups in a row.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Palatka to victory, but perhaps none more so than Justin Fells, who rushed 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.
Nature Coast Tech's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Lj Elwin, who rushed for 48 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson Hoyt handled things on the ground, rushing for 85 yards.
Palatka's win bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Nature Coast Tech, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-2.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Palatka will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against Bradford at 7:30 p.m. on October 4th. One thing working in Palatka's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last four matches. Nature Coast Tech will also get a bit of a break before their next game: they'll face off against Anclote at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Nature Coast Tech's defense has only allowed 17.4 points per game this season, so Anclote's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
