The University Prep Panthers will face off against the Lassen Grizzlies at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
University Prep is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed past Central Valley to the tune of 49-22 on Friday. The win continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Falcons: they've now won seven in a row.
It was another big night for Talis Payne, who threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns while completing 88.9% of his passes, and also rushed for 82 yards and a pair of TDs on only ten carries. University Prep's leading receiver Jackson Kersten was Payne's top target yet again, picking up 88 receiving yards and one score, while also rushing for 41 yards.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: University Prep was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 234 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in November of 2024.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter and that's exactly how it played out for Lassen on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Anderson out of the water with a 43-6 final score. The Grizzlies might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by 34 points or more this season.
University Prep better keep an eye on Dowan Stephens. He was instrumental in Lassen's win, rushing for 165 yards and four TDs while picking up 8.3 yards per carry. They are undefeated when Stephens posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Dathen Moore, who rushed for 160 yards on only ten carries.
University Prep's victory bumped their record up to 2-4. As for Lassen, their win bumped their record up to 4-2.
University Prep came up short against Lassen in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, falling 27-20. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Moore, who rushed for 171 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Now that the Panthers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
