Langston Hughes Underrated Season

This season, there has been some buzz around the Langston Hughes Panthers. Unfortunately, the attention they have been receiving has not quite matched that of some of the top 5-10 programs in the state, including teams such as Collins Hill, Buford, North Cobb, Milton, and Brookwood. Regardless, the Panthers have achieved a 7-1 record to this point of the season, and only have 2 more regular season games left, which each happen to be against regional opponents. The only loss they have so far this season happens to be against Newton High, in a close game during week one. Since then, they have been on a 7 game winning streak, and look to add to this total this week. Offensively, the Panthers have managed to perform at a high level this year. They have been led by QB, [player_tooltip player_id="137477" first="Prentiss" last="Noland"], who is only a Sophomore, but has shown plenty of promise. He has already thrown for over 1,100 yards, and has managed to toss 15 TD passes so far, to only 3 interceptions. As a result, players such as Armani Tookes, [player_tooltip player_id="133985" first="Rodney" last="Shelley"], Jelani Thurman, and Jalion Brown have all had success with TD receptions. Leading this group are Tookes, Shelley, and Thurman, who have each had over 200 yards receiving so far. In addition to the Panthers versatile aerial attack, they have also had plenty of success on the ground. To be specific, they have almost rushed for 1,400 yards in only 8 weeks. What makes this even more impressive is the fact that this was done in 7 games due to a forfeit from an opposing team. On the ground, players such as [player_tooltip player_id="33872" first="Antonio" last="Martin"], Xavier Smith, and Andrez Sanchez have all rushed for their fair share of yardage, and have each accumulated TD’s that have helped lead their team to big time wins. On the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers can be seen to have the most success. At this point of the season, an opponent has only scored more than 21 points once. This came in a close win against Westlake, in which the Lions scored 24 points. Perhaps, the reason the defense has been so stellar is because as a unit, players fly to the football. As a team, they have a total of 641 tackles so far, with over 330 of them being solo tackles. To add to this, over 40 of these tackles have been for a loss. In achieving this, 19 players have already recorded double digit tackle totals. Players such as DeMarkus Brown, Josh Horton, and Michael Watson have led the pack in this category. Even more impressively, 10 total players have already recorded a sack for the team, including players such as Brown, and Ahmad Howard, who have 3, and 2 sacks. The team has also recorded 10 interceptions so far this season, which is even harder to achieve. One can credit these interceptions to good coverage, and QB pressures. As a result, players such as [player_tooltip player_id="34023" first="Terrance" last="Love"], and Xavier Smith have managed to have a 5 interception total collectively.