Football Preview: Northeast Raiders vs. Dublin Fighting Irish
The Northeast Raiders will head out on the road to square off against the Dublin Fighting Irish at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Northeast sitting on four straight victories and Dublin on five.
Northeast's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Academy for Classical Education 46-0 at home. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 116th, while the Gryphons are ranked 237th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Northeast can attribute much of their success to Nick Woodford, who rushed for 238 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 14.0 yards per carry, and Reginald Glover, who rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. That's the most rushing yards Woodford has posted since back in September of 2023.
Northeast's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Kortnei Williams. Northeast got some further help from Santana Balkcom: he made ten total tackles (2.0 for loss) and defended two passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Northeast was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 517 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Dublin on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Jefferson County out of the water with a 56-0 final score. The Fighting Irish pushed the score to 49-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Warriors had no chance of recovering from.
Dublin had a senior duo take command as Xavier Bostic rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns on only seven carries and Willie Batts rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries. Those 110 rushing yards set a new season-high mark for Batts.
Northeast pushed their record up to 4-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home. As for Dublin, their record is now 5-0.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Northeast has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 321.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Dublin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 397.5. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Northeast took a serious blow against Dublin in their previous meeting back in October of 2019, falling 56-21. Thankfully for Northeast, Marcus Adams (who rushed for 151 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
