Football Preview: Riverside-Durham Pirates vs. South Granville Vikings
Two dominant backs in Jamarion Ross and Jamar Hicks are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Riverside-Durham Pirates and the South Granville Vikings are set to duel on Thursday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 857 yards in their previous games.
Riverside-Durham will head into Friday's contest hoping to keep the good times rolling: they only won by two when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 21-point they dealt Northern Durham on Friday. Riverside-Durham put the hurt on Northern Durham with a sharp 35-14 victory. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Pirates considering their 12-point performance the matchup before.
Ross continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 203 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 12.7 yards per carry. He was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 65 yards. Tre Belcher was another key player, throwing for 203 yards and two touchdowns on only 17 passes.
Riverside-Durham didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Cole Schweitz, Taleeb Harrell, and Channing Gaines picked up one apiece. Gaines has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 11 times he's played.
Meanwhile, South Granville had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They blew past the Guardians, posting a 58-17 win. The Vikings might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matches by 22 points or more this season.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Jaydn McNeil and he. McNeil rushed for 175 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries while he rushed for 175 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries. With that strong performance, Hicks is now averaging an impressive 106.1 rushing yards per game.
South Granville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 404 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Riverside-Durham's record is now 4-5. As for South Granville, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 4-5.
Thursday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Riverside-Durham has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 215.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like South Granville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 203.1. It's looking like Thursday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Riverside-Durham came up short against South Granville in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 20-14. Will Riverside-Durham have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
