Midland Bulldogs (8-1, 3-1) at Permian Panthers (4-4, 1-2)
Juzstyce Lara
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Kickoff: 7 p.m. Astound Broadband Stadium, 801 North Loop 250 West, Midland, TX
Enrollments: Midland (2,323), Permian (3,111)
Coaches: Midland- Thad Fortune, Permian- Jeff Ellison
Last meeting: Permian 31, Midland 15 (11/4/22)
Streaks: Midland- 1 loss, Permian- 1 win
At Stake: Midland lost its first game of the season last week to rival Midland Legacy, and now Permian is in town and looks to make it back-to-back wins.
What to watch: Midland had dreams of an undefeated season shattered by rival Midland Legacy last week in a 49-31 win where they let Marcos Davila throw for three touchdowns and run for another. They will need to tighten up their defense this week against a strong Panther offense.
On offense, Midland has one of the strongest running games around. Stroman Bridges, who is listed at quarterback but can do just about anything, ran 13 times for 120 yards and a score last week. He missed the first part of the season with a collar bone injury, and in only four games he has 517 yards and six scores.
Elijah McCoy is coming off an 18 carry, 112 yard performance where he also scored. He has been terrific all season, with 1,373 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground, at 7.3 yards per carry.
Tristan Love, who is also a quarterback, ran the ball in for a touchdown, as well. He has 508 rushing yards this year with five scores.
The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 390-208.
The Panthers are coming off a 42-14 blowout win over San Angelo Central, where Juzstyce Lara ran for four touchdowns increasing his total to 16 on the season.
Look out for Jakob Garcia this week, as well. He had a pair of touchdown passes against the Bobcats- a 77-yarder where Noah Adams burned the defense on a screen, and a 59-yard perfect spiral to Ben Salvidar in stride going untouched for the score.
Permian had 198 yards on the ground and 243 yards passing in what was a well-balanced attack. However they allowed 441 yards passing, which they will need to nip in the bud this week.