Football Preview: Lely Trojans vs. Barron Collier Cougars
The Lely Trojans will take on the Barron Collier Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 950 yards in their previous games.
Lely took a loss when they played away from home on September 6th, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They took down Gulliver Prep 44-28.
Lely found their leader in underclassman Nino Joseph, who rushed for 307 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.8 yards per carry, and also picked up 56 receiving yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave Joseph a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Carter Quinn, who threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Lely was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 379 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 316 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Lely's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Sam Duprat, Dradley Avena, and Avena picked up one apiece. Wally Monpremier was another major factor on D, picking up a sack, forcing a fumble, and forcing a fumble.
Meanwhile, Barron Collier came into Friday's match having lost four straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They enjoyed a cozy 42-28 victory over Community School of Naples two weeks ago. The Cougars' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Brian Williams went supernova for Barron Collier, rushing for 80 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 190 yards and a touchdown. A healthy portion of that aerial production (108 yards to be exact) went to Brody Graham.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Barron Collier's defense and their three sacks. Javier Gomez was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself.
The win got Lely back to even at 2-2. As for Barron Collier, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-3.
Lely lost to Barron Collier on the road by a decisive 47-29 margin in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Barron Collier's Niko Boyce, who rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 9.3 yards per carry, and also threw for 176 yards and a touchdown. Now that Lely knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
