The Oakwood Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Avalon Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Oakwood has given up an average of 48.2 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
On Friday, Oakwood came up short against Chester and fell 69-56. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 35th, while the Yellowjackets are ranked second).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Avalon). They really took it to Methodist Children's Home for the full four quarters, racking up a 76-27 victory. The Eagles' win was nothing new given the team hasn't lost yet this season.
Oakwood better keep an eye on Josh Novak. He was instrumental in Avalon's win, rushing for 376 yards and eight touchdowns on only 14 carries. Novak is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in each of the last 15 games he's played dating back to last season.
Avalon was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 420 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Special teams played a big role in the game for Avalon, adding 11 points to the final score. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Kade Johnson, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.
Oakwood now has a losing record of 2-3. As for Avalon, their record now sits at 4-0.
Oakwood took a serious blow against Avalon when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 62-16. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Novak, who rushed for 181 yards and four scores while picking up 10.1 yards per carry, and also threw for 11 yards and one TD. Now that the Panthers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
