Football Preview: South Dade Buccaneers vs. Columbus Explorers
South Dade hasn't had much luck against Columbus recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The South Dade Buccaneers will take on the Columbus Explorers at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
South Dade is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They blew past Santaluces 48-13. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Buccaneers just coasted through the last quarter.
South Dade's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Montrey Jackson, who picked up 62 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 38 yards and a touchdown. Another back making a difference was Malachi Cruz, who rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown.
South Dade was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 251 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 163 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.
South Dade didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jackson and Haman Andrews.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Columbus). They simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat Spanish River 56-8. Given the Explorers' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 42nd, while the Sharks are ranked 221st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Columbus' win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 5.0 points per game. As for South Dade, they now have a winning record of 6-5.
South Dade was dealt a bruising 42-15 loss at the hands of Columbus when the teams last played back in September. Can South Dade avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
