Football Preview: Oxford Yellow Jackets vs. Pell City Panthers
Oxford is 10-0 against Pell City since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Oxford Yellow Jackets will look to defend their home field against the Pell City Panthers at 7:00 p.m. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Pell City is hoping to do what Helena couldn't on Friday: put an end to Oxford's winning streak, which now stands at six games. Oxford blew past Helena 35-10. Considering the Yellow Jackets have won three matches by more than 23 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Caleb Wynn and Jeremy Spratling. Wynn had a great game and rushed for 166 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 9.2 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Spratling was balling out in the loss, rushing for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Oxford's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Marcus Lawler and Damious Wilson. What's more, Wilson also racked up 44 rushing yards, the mosthe's had since back in November of 2023. Jiyez Fleming was another major factor on D, picking up two sacks, forcing a fumble, and making 11 total tackles.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Oxford was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 200 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pell City). They claimed a resounding 55-7 victory over Huffman at home. The win was some much needed relief for the Panthers as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.
Pell City found their leader in underclassman Brody Gossett, who threw for 166 yards and four touchdowns while completing 82.4% of his passes.
Oxford pushed their record up to 6-0 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Pell City, their win bumped their record up to 2-3.
Oxford came out on top in a nail-biter against Pell City when the teams last played back in October of 2023, sneaking past 28-25. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Pell City's Caleb Groce, who rushed for 288 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.7 yards per carry. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Oxford to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
