The Lakewood Leopards will face off against the North Johnston Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Lakewood gave up the first points last Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. They won a contest that couldn't have been any closer, slipping by Red Springs 27-26. The 27-point effort marked the Leopards' lowest-scoring game of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Among those leading the charge was Nakai Owens, who rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown on only five carries.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask North Johnston). They were the clear victor by a 56-34 margin over Hobbton on Friday. With the Panthers ahead 36-13 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Kaleb Pone continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 286 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 11.4 yards per attempt, and also rushing for 185 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.7 yards per carry. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 110.8 rushing yards per game.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, North Johnston was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 281 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
Lakewood's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-1. As for North Johnston, the victory got them back to even at 2-2.
Everything went Lakewood's way against North Johnston when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as Lakewood made off with a 28-8 win. Will Lakewood repeat their success, or does North Johnston have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
