Football Preview: Viera Hawks vs. Merritt Island Mustangs
Two dominant backs in Eric Nelson and Delvonte Williams are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Viera Hawks will head out to face off against the Merritt Island Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 1,007 yards in their previous games.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Viera finally turned things around against Melbourne on Friday. They took down the Bulldogs 28-14.
Nelson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 173 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.7 yards per carry, and also throwing for 67 yards and a touchdown. He showed off some serious burst, turning on the afterburners on one carry for 62 yards. Viera also got a significant boost from Ryan Boobar, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 169 yards.
Viera was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 361 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Merritt Island). They claimed a resounding 56-7 win over Satellite. With the Mustangs ahead 35-7 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Williams was his usual excellent self, rushing for 151 yards and two touchdowns. The team also got some help courtesy of Kevin Verpaele, who threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 11.5 yards per attempt.
Viera's victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 4-5. As for Merritt Island, their record is now 6-3.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Viera has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 182.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Merritt Island struggles in that department as they've been averaging 161. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Viera and Merritt Island were almost perfectly matched up in their previous meeting back in November of 2022, but Viera suffered an agonizing 28-27 loss. Thankfully for Viera, Yaseen Dereese (who picked up 114 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also punched in two touchdowns on the ground) 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
