The Menaul Panthers will face off against the Escalante Lobos 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.
Menaul is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Clayton, who was ranked 20th at the time (Menaul was ranked 14th). The Panthers came out on top against the Yellowjackets by a score of 52-40 on Friday.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Escalante). They breezed past Cloudcroft to the tune of 62-12 on Friday. With the Lobos ahead 28-6 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Escalante's win came from a few key players Menaul will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Braylon Emery, who threw for 147 yards and three TDs on only five passes, and also rushed for 52 yards and one touchdown. RJ Atencio was another key player, picking up 81 receiving yards and three scores.
Escalante's run defense was locked in: Cloudcroft could only muster 2.9 yards per carry. The team can thank Jerome Montoya for the heroic effort on defense: he. Escalante didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 8.8.
Menaul pushed their record up to 4-2 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those road victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 48.2 points over those games. As for Escalante, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.
Menaul might still be hurting after the 38-14 defeat they got from Escalante when the teams last played back in November of 2024. Can the Panthers 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
