Two dominant signal callers in Jordan Morales and Julian Reese II are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Hanks Knights will challenge the Palo Duro Dons at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Hanks made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Chapin, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Knights fell just short of the Huskies by a score of 52-50 on Friday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game two weeks ago (35), the Knights still had to take the loss.
Austin Deucher
| 11/07/25 vs Chapin | 321 |
| 10/31/25 @ Jefferson | 128 |
| 10/24/25 vs Canutillo | 131 |
Despite the loss, Hanks got top-tier performance from Austin Deucher, who rushed for 321 yards and four scores while picking up 9.2 yards per carry. Deucher's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 128 rushing yards. Zack Kania also helped out as he racked up 124 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Palo Duro came tearing into Thursday's matchup with eight straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.6 points), and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Cougars 52-28. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Dons had established a 21-point advantage.
The critical scores for Palo Duro came from Reese II and Raymond Johnson.
Palo Duro didn't let much get past them through the air: they limited Cooper to a completion percentage of just 28%. The team can thank Makoy Sims for the heroic effort on defense: he. Palo Duro wasn't nearly as limited: they posted one of 77.8%.
Palo Duro's defense didn't let the opposing QB, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for four sacks. That dominant display was truly a team effort as four different players picked up one apiece. They got some further help from Keanan Posey: he picked up a sack, forced one fumble, and made ten total tackles.
With the defeat, Hanks broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 6-4. As for Palo Duro, their record is now 9-1.
Thursday's game might be decided on the ground. Hanks has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 203.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Palo Duro struggles in that department as they've been averaging 174.9 rushing yards. There's a good chance Thursday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
