The Escalante Lobos will head out to square off against the Menaul Panthers at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
As a matter of fact, Escalante put up the most points they have all season on Friday. They blew past Cloudcroft 62-12. The Lobos pushed the score to 46-6 by the end of the third, a deficit the Bears had no chance of recovering from.
Escalante got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Braylon Emery out in front who threw for 147 yards and three TDs on only five passes, and also rushed for 52 yards and one score. RJ Atencio was another key receiver, picking up 81 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Escalante was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 265 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 182 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Menaul faced Clayton in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. The Panthers walked away with a 52-40 win over the Yellowjackets.
Menaul's victory was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-2. The road wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 48.2 points over those games. As for Escalante, the victory was their first at home , bumping their record up to 5-2.
Escalante took their win against Menaul when the teams last played back in November of 2024 by a conclusive 38-14 score. Do the Lobos have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
