Two dominant signal callers in George Grant and Tremaine Hughes Jr. are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. After each having a week off, the Maclay Marauders and the St. John Paul II Panthers will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 7:30 p.m. on November 17th. St. John Paul II took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Maclay, who comes in off a win.
Even though Taylor County scored an imposing 34 points on Friday, Maclay still came out on top. In a tight contest that could have gone either way, Maclay made off with a 35-34 win over Taylor County. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Maclay.
Grant was his usual excellent self, throwing for 322 yards and three touchdowns while completing 73.7% of his passes, and also punching in two touchdowns on the ground. Nash Beshears did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 130 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, St. John Paul II's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They ended up on the wrong side of a tough 37-13 walloping at the hands of Pensacola Catholic. While losing is never fun, St. John Paul II can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 257th, while Pensacola Catholic is ranked 94th).
Despite their defeat, St. John Paul II saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Hughes Jr., who rushed for 80 yards on only five carries, and also threw for 243 yards and a touchdown, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Jamarie Blackshear, who picked up 109 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Maclay has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-5 record this season. As for St. John Paul II, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-6.
Maclay was taken down by St. John Paul II 39-0 in their previous matchup back in September of 2022. Can Maclay avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
