Paint Branch hasn't had much luck against Northwest recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when Panthers challenges the Northwest Jaguars at 6:30 p.m. Both teams are still undefeated (Paint Branch has four wins , while Northwest has five dating back to last season).
Paint Branch is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 48-14 win over Wheaton at home. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Maryland football rankings (they are ranked 27th, while the Knights are ranked 176th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Makai Miles and he. Miles gained 154 total yards and two touchdowns while he gained 154 total yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Vincent Do was another key player, throwing for 194 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Paint Branch was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 373 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 187 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Northwest put their dominant defense on display in the team's fifth consecutive shutout on Friday. Their defense stepped up to hand Bethesda-Chevy Chase a 31-0 shutout. The Jaguars pushed the score to 24-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Barons had little chance of recovering from.
Jayden Vongprachanh-Nelson looked great while leading his team to the win, throwing for 201 yards and a touchdown on only 15 passes. 94 of those passing yards were hauled in by Rahmise Jones, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Paint Branch pushed their record up to 4-0 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. As for Northwest, their record now sits at 5-0.
Paint Branch ended up a good deal behind Northwest when the teams last played back in October of 2023, losing 28-13. Can Paint Branch avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
