Football Preview: Dayton Broncos vs. Montgomery Bears
After each having a week off, the Dayton Broncos and the Montgomery Bears will dust off their jerseys to take on one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Dayton will head into Friday's matchup after some sweet revenge against Porter: Dayton couldn't quite topple Porter two weeks ago, but it was still a huge improvement compared to the 21-point defeat they took when the two last played. Everything went Dayton's way against Porter as Dayton made off with a 42-20 victory. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Broncos have posted against the Spartans since November 7, 2014.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Dayton to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jaleel Kendrick, who rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Kendrick a new career-high in rushing yards. Another passer making a difference was Jerry Prieto Jr, who threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
Another reason for the win was Dayton's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for 11 sacks. Andrew Soliz led the group effort, picking up four of those sacks all by himself. He 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 Porter's side was Angelo Hadley, who picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Montgomery put another one in the bag two weeks ago to keep their perfect season alive. They took their game at home with ease, bagging a 67-26 victory over Elgin. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 214th, while the Wildcats are ranked 594th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Montgomery's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Damion Taylor led the charge by rushing for 95 yards and a touchdown, while also picking up 43 receiving yards. Taylor's longest rush was for an incredible 89 yards. Talan Shavers did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 126 receiving yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Montgomery was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 399 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 203 rushing yards in five consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Montgomery wouldn't let Elgin keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Montgomery can thank Phillip Raglin and Braxden Havard for forcing both of them.
Dayton now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Montgomery, their record is now 3-0.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Dayton has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 160 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Montgomery struggles in that department as they've been averaging 359. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Dayton didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Montgomery in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, but they still walked away with a 39-34 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Dayton since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
