The Croatan Cougars will challenge the Seaforth Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Croatan has been dominant on offense recently, having racked up an incredible 133 points over their last three contests.
Two weeks ago, Croatan didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Dixon, but they still walked away with a 46-42 win. The victory almost wasn't to be: the Cougars were down 36-22 in the second quarter.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Andrew Boucher and JJ Gulat. Boucher had a great game and rushed for 184 yards and a pair of scores while picking up 9.7 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Gulat was balling out in the loss, rushing for 253 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 7.7 yards per carry, and also throwing for 102 yards.
Special teams was a major factor in the game for Croatan, racking up 12 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Boucher, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, with a playoff win on the line, Seaforth rose to the challenge on Friday. They pulled ahead with a 29-28 photo finish over the Cougars. The score was all tied up 7-7 at the break, but the Hawks were the better team in the second half.
Croatan better keep an eye on Duncan Parker. He was instrumental in Seaforth's win, throwing for 307 yards and three TDs, while also rushing for 105 yards. They are undefeated when Parker posts 80 or more rushing yards, but 2-5 otherwise.
Seaforth has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-5 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to yards per carry: they averaged an imposing 9.53 yards per carry in those games compared to only 2.7 in the others. As for Croatan, their win bumped their record up to 9-1.
Friday's contest might be decided in the trenches. Croatan has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 166.8 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Seaforth, though, as they've been averaging only 97.6 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
