Football Preview: East Paulding Raiders vs. Hiram Hornets
The East Paulding Raiders will head out on the road to take on the Hiram Hornets at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hiram took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on East Paulding, who comes in off a win.
Last Friday, everything came up roses for East Paulding at home against Paulding County as the team secured a 34-3 victory. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Raiders had established a 24 point advantage.
Chantz Bouknight was a one-man wrecking crew for East Paulding as he rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 64 yards and a touchdown. Bouknight got the majority of those yards when he took off on a run and that went for an incredible69 yards. Javen Parker also helped out as he racked up 133 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Hiram lost 45-21 to Central on Friday. The Hornets were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 28-7.
Despite the defeat, Hiram got top-tier performance from Dashaun Williams, who rushed for 119 yards on only ten carries, and also picked up 53 receiving yards and a touchdown. Hiram also got a significant boost from Kaden Hamilton, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 85 yards.
The win made it two in a row for East Paulding and bumps their season record up to 2-0. As for Hiram, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-2.
East Paulding couldn't quite finish off Hiram in their previous matchup back in September of 2023 and fell 52-49. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Williams, who rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries, and also picked up 75 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that East Paulding knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
