Football Preview: Daniel Lions vs. J.L. Mann Patriots
The Daniel Lions are taking a road trip to take on the J.L. Mann Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Daniel will be strutting in after a victory while J.L. Mann will be coming in after a defeat.
J.L. Mann is hoping to do what Stratford couldn't on Thursday: put an end to Daniel's winning streak (dating back to last season), which now stands at 17 games. Daniel took down Stratford 52-36. Given the Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina football rankings (they are ranked ninth, while the Knights are ranked 44th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Daniel to victory, but perhaps none more so than Grayson Clary, who threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.8 yards per attempt, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. A healthy portion of that aerial production (134 yards to be exact) went to Jason Bish, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Daniel was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 229 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 187 rushing yards in six consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, J.L. Mann fought the good fight in their overtime match against Gaffney on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Indians by a score of 42-40. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Patriots have suffered since September 15, 2023.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from McLeod Darnell, who threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns. Keyshun Henderson was Darnell's top target, picking up 99 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Daniel pushed their record up to 2-0 with that win, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for J.L. Mann, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 1-1.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
