The Monticello Panthers will be defending their home field for the first time this season when they go up against the O'Neill Raiders at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Monticello comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
Monticello made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Burke Catholic, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Panthers fell just short of Burke Catholic by a score of 29-26 on Saturday. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York football rankings (they are ranked 532nd, while Burke Catholic are ranked 261st).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Seth Jackson, who threw for 178 yards and three TDs on only 14 passes. Anthony Ortiz helped Jackson out on the ground, rushing for 61 yards and one touchdown on only five carries.
Don't try to pin the team's loss on the defense: they kept the trenches locked down and allowed a mere 1.8 yards per carry. The team can thank Tyrese Shaw for the heroic effort on defense: he. Monticello didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 6.7.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask O'Neill). They took their matchup on Friday with ease, bagging a 47-18 win over Chenango Valley. The score was all tied up 0-0 at the break, but the Raiders were the (much) better team in the second half.
Monticello better keep an eye on Robert Trey Murphy. He was instrumental in O'Neill's win, rushing for 217 yards and five scores while picking up 10.3 yards per carry. Trey Murphy's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 113 rushing yards.
The victory got O'Neill back to even at 2-2. As for Monticello, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-4.
Monticello strolled past O'Neill in their previous matchup back in September of 2024 by a score of 20-6. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Raiders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
