Football Preview: Dudley Panthers vs. Ben L. Smith Golden Eagles
Dudley is 10-0 against Ben L. Smith since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Dudley Panthers will face off against the Ben L. Smith Golden Eagles at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Dudley has five straight victories, Ben L. Smith has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Ben L. Smith's offense is going to have their work cut out for them on Friday: Dudley hadn't allowed a single point the last four times they've hit the field. Dudley blew past Atkins 48-0 at home on Saturday. Fans of the Panthers have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
The match pitted two key players against one another: Andrew Rogers and Garrison Dibble. Rogers had a great game and picked up two sacks, made six total tackles (3.0 for loss), and defended four passes. Meanwhile, Dibble was balling out in the loss, picking up three sacks and making 19 total tackles (5.0 for loss).
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Dudley's defense and their six sacks. In that department, Rogers was the leader with two. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 1.2 defended passes per game. Another thorn in Atkins' side was Jordyn Ratliff, who picked up 1.5 sacks, forced a fumble, and made six total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Dudley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 339 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 219 rushing yards in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Ben L. Smith didn't have quite enough to beat Rockingham County on Friday and fell 9-6. The game marked the Golden Eagles' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Dudley's win was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for Ben L. Smith, they now have a losing record at 2-3.
Everything came up roses for Dudley against Ben L. Smith when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 77-6 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Dudley 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
