Abbott is 8-2 against Avalon since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Abbott Panthers will face off against the Avalon Eagles at 7:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Abbott put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They blew past Gholson 46-0 on the road. Given Abbott's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked fifth, while Gholson is ranked 140th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Avalon took their match at home last Thursday with ease, bagging a 60-14 victory over Blum. The win made it back-to-back wins for Avalon.
Josh Novak was his usual excellent self, rushing for 181 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 8.2 yards per carry, and also throwing for 134 yards and a touchdown while completing 72.7% of his passes. Novak hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for four straight games. Shawn McEwen was another key contributor, picking up 54 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Abbott has yet to lose a match on the road this season, leaving them with a 10-0 record. It's not like the team was facing easy opposition over that stretch either, as it included 9-1 Borden County and 9-1 Covenant Classical (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 70% over those games). As for Avalon, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 5-5 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Abbott against Avalon in their previous matchup back in September as the squad secured a 62-32 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Avalon's Novak, who rushed for 189 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.9 yards per carry. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Abbott still be able to contain him? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
