After both having extra time off, the Palo Verde Panthers and the Pinecrest Academy Cadence Cougars will dust off their jerseys to take on one another at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday. Palo Verde is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 27.4 points per game this season.
Palo Verde is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nevada's top teams: Las Vegas, who was ranked 22nd at the time (Palo Verde was ranked fifth). Palo Verde came out on top against Las Vegas by a score of 26-19 on December 13th. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Panthers.
Palo Verde relied on the efforts of Samantha Manzo, who rushed for 62 yards and one touchdown, and Alexis Manzo, who picked up 28 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Samantha also deserves a shoutout for her performance on D, making five total tackles and defending one pass.
Palo Verde didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Manzo, Madeline West, and Caitlyn Torpey picked up one apiece.
Meanwhile, Pinecrest Academy Cadence fell victim to Southeast Career Tech and their airtight defense last Saturday. They came up short against the Roadrunners, falling 20-0. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Cougars have suffered since January 17th.
Palo Verde pushed their record up to 7-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 6.3 points per game. As for Pinecrest Academy Cadence, the loss snapped their winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 9-3 record.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
