Football Preview: Eastside Eagles vs. Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers
Eastside has gone 8-1 against Blue Ridge recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Eastside Eagles will look to defend their home field against the Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Eastside's defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed last Friday. They breezed by Carolina Academy at home to the tune of 27-0. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 87th, while the Trojans are ranked 200th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Eastside's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Peyton Schrader, who rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown on only five carries.
Eastside's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB seven times. The heavy lifting was done by Messiah Pearson and Jaquavious Dodd who racked up four sacks between them. Dodd is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last seven games he's played dating back to last season. Another thorn in Carolina Academy's side was Mj Posey, who picked up a sack and made ten total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Blue Ridge didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Polk County on Friday, but they still walked away with a 42-36 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Fighting Tigers.
Gavin Forrester had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 115 yards and four touchdowns on only 13 carries, and also threw for 137 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 passes. That's the most total yards he has posted since back in September of 2023. Another player making a difference was Kb Henderson, who rushed for 140 yards.
Eastside's victory was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-0. As for Blue Ridge, their win bumped their record up to an identical 2-0.
Eastside strolled past Blue Ridge in their previous matchup back in September of 2023 by a score of 54-40. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Henderson, who rushed for 296 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.4 yards per carry. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Eastside still be able to contain Henderson? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
