This week, the Golden Eagles will be welcoming in quite possibly the most impressive and talented opponent of the season, the Derby Panthers. 

Breakdown:

Derby Panthers

This season for the Derby Panthers has been a rather strange and uncharacteristic one to say the least. They started their season facing the 6A state champion Mill Valley Jaguars 14-45. The most surprising stat coming out of this game  was how susceptible the Defense of the Derby Panthers looked against the running game of Mill Valley. The Panthers allowed an alarming statistic of 215 total rushing yards. The Derby defense also had a difficult time stopping the Mill Valley passing attack, giving up 170 passing yards to Mill Valley quarterback Cooper Marsh, with 104 of those going to Mill Valley receiver Kendrick Jones. 

The Derby Panthers were then able to pick up their first win the following week against the Newton Railers. The Derby Panthers were able to bounce back in a huge way against the Railers, with Derby running back Dylan Edwards rattling off an exceptional 241 yards on the night against a historically susceptible Newton defense. It is also important to note that Derby’s second running back Lem Walsh was able to compile 172 yards over the course of the night as well. 

Looking through the box scores for Derby’s last two games, it is clear that this offense is built almost exclusively through the team’s run game. However, the team seems to be lacking overall in a consistent passing attack. This could be the deciding factor in who is able to come out on top Friday night. 

Bishop Carroll

It wouldn’t be necessarily unfair to say that the Golden Eagles have had a much more consistent start to their season. The Golden Eagles have been in two extremely hard fought and physical match ups, with the two coming against Kapaun Mt. Karmel and Junction City. The Golden Eagles won both of their games by less than three total points and that is mainly due to their offense being able to be two dimensional, being able to change from a passing approach to a smash mouth offense in an instant. 

Adrian’s Prediction:

This game is going to be an extremely explosive shootout right out of the gate this week, very similar to the Golden Eagles’ match up last week against Kapaun. The key for the Golden Eagles is to number one, shut down the powerful and relentless backfield of the Derby Panthers, but also make sure the offense led by Senior quarterback Aiden Niedens, is able to stick with the Derby offense. The Golden Eagles cannot afford to fall behind early against the Derby Panthers, or else they could be staring down the barrel of their first loss of the season. If the Golden Eagle offense is able to continuously trade shots with the Panthers, and trust in their defense to make explosive, opportunistic plays when it matters most, they should be able to come out on top.

Bishop Carroll: 38 > Derby Panthers: 35