Football Game Preview: Independence Patriots vs. North Mecklenburg Vikings + How To Watch

The Independence Patriots will venture away from home to take on the North Mecklenburg Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. North Mecklenburg took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Independence, who comes in off a win.

Independence is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of North Carolina's top teams: Mallard Creek, who was ranked 12th at the time (Independence was ranked ninth). The Patriots claimed a resounding 35-0 victory over the Mavericks. The Patriots pushed the score to 27-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Mavericks had little chance of recovering from.

Jared Street Jr

Rushing Yards (Career)

10/17/25 vs Mallard Creek	138
09/05/25 vs Charlotte Christian	70
10/10/25 vs Chambers	69
08/22/25 @ Gaffney	61
09/19/25 @ Palisades	44

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Independence to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jared Street Jr, who rushed for 138 yards and one TD on only 12 carries, and also threw for 127 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 passes. Those 138 rushing yards gave Street Jr a new career-high. Another rusher making a difference was Jayden Jones, who rushed for 180 yards and one score while picking up 10.0 yards per carry.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Independence was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 419 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, North Mecklenburg was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. The contest between the Vikings and Chambers didn't end well, with the Vikings falling 21-6.

Independence is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 28.5 points over those games. As for North Mecklenburg, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-5.

Independence took their victory against North Mecklenburg in their previous matchup back in August of 2019 by a conclusive 47-26 score. In that matchup, the Patriots amassed a halftime lead of 28-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.