The Lamar Thunder will face off against the Woodland Park Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated after five-games, but that won't be the case come Friday.
Lamar will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up seven points back in September, then bounced right back against La Junta on Friday. Lamar enjoyed a cozy 38-20 victory over La Junta. The Thunder pushed the score to 31-7 by the end of the third, a deficit the Tigers cut but never quite recovered from.
Lamar's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Cael Buxton, who picked up 102 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Lamar also got a significant boost from Alex Aguilar, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 105 yards.
Lamar didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Buxton, Adriel Gonzalez, and Alexander Williams picked up one apiece. Gonzalez is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made 11 or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season. Diego Estrada was another major factor on D, making 18 total tackles.
Meanwhile, on FridayBanning Lewis Academy kept up with Woodland Park until halftime, but afterwards: not so much. Woodland Park blew past Banning Lewis Academy 43-7 on the road. Considering the Panthers have won four matchups by more than 23 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Marqus Joseph Schoenberger was his usual excellent self, rushing for 74 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing for 94 yards and a touchdown.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Woodland Park was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 204 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 155 rushing yards in five consecutive matches.
Another reason for the win was Woodland Park's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Leading the way was Matteo Pizarro with two. He also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 11.
Lamar pushed their record up to 5-0 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. As for Woodland Park, their record is now an identical 5-0.
Lamar was dealt a bruising 49-13 defeat at the hands of Woodland Park when the teams last played back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Joseph Schoenberger, who threw for 281 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 12.2 yards per attempt. Now that Lamar knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
