The Harlan Hawks will venture away from home to square off against the O'Connor Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Harlan is looking to tack on another W to their six-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Last Thursday, Harlan had to suffer through a 51-14 loss at the hands of Brennan. While losing is never fun, the Hawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 210th, while the Bears are ranked 76th).
Despite the loss, Harlan got top-tier performance from Payton Matthews, who rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries, and also picked up 37 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave Matthews a new career-high in rushing yards.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 51-16, which was the final score in O'Connor's tilt against Sotomayor on Friday. The Panthers were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 30-0.
Although O'Connor took the loss, they still got scores from Riley Eason and Brandon Martinez.
Even though they lost, O'Connor was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 288 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Harlan's defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 2-1. As for O'Connor, their loss dropped their record down to 1-3.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Harlan has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 203.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like O'Connor struggles in that department as they've been averaging 161.8. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Harlan against O'Connor in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, as the squad secured a 49-12 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was O'Connor's Luke Valdez, who picked up 112 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Harlan to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
