The Palatka Panthers will take on the Newberry Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Newberry is hoping to do what Nature Coast Tech couldn't on Friday: put an end to Palatka's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Palatka walked away with a 34-26 victory over Nature Coast Tech.
Palatka's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Justin Fells, who rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Fells a new career-high in rushing yards. Another back making a difference was Lawrence Evans, who rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Palatka was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 295 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 162 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Newberry). They took their match at home last Friday with ease, bagging a 48-0 win over Keystone Heights. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 97th, while the Indians are ranked 314th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kaleb Woods continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 194 yards and four touchdowns on only 11 carries. His longest rush was for an incredible 81 yards. Kobe Johnson was another key player, throwing for 63 yards and two touchdowns on only six passes.
Palatka's victory bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Newberry, the win got them back to even at 2-2.
Palatka came up short against Newberry in their previous meeting back in September of 2021, falling 37-30. Can Palatka avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
