After each having a week off, the Southwest DeKalb Panthers and the Jonesboro Cardinals will shake off the cobwebs and hit the field against one another at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Jonesboro will face off against a team with plenty of momentum: Southwest DeKalb extended their winning streak to four last Friday. The Panthers were the clear victors by a 27-7 margin over Druid Hills. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 97th, while the Red Devils are ranked 326th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Jonesboro took on Starr's Mill two weeks ago. The Cardinals claimed a resounding 34-7 victory over the Panthers. The win continues a trend for the Cardinals in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now won three in a row.
Jonesboro's win came from a few key players Southwest DeKalb will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ethan Sharpe, who threw for 171 yards and a pair of touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes, and also punched in one TD on the ground. His passing game has become a key predictor of Jonesboro's success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 110 or higher, but only 1-4 otherwise. Lucious Murray handled things on the ground, rushing for 84 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Jonesboro was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 315 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 153 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Southwest DeKalb's record now sits at 8-2. As for Jonesboro, their record is now 6-4.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
