Football Preview: Africentric Early College Nubians vs. Independence 76ers
Africentric Early College hasn't had much luck against Independence recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Africentric Early College Nubians will host the Independence 76ers at 7:00 p.m. Africentric Early College will be hoping to continue their four-game streak of scoring more points each matchup than the last.
Africentric Early College is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their contest on the road on Thursday with ease, bagging a 50-10 win over Marion-Franklin. The result was nothing new for the Nubians, who have now won three matches by 24 points or more so far this season.
It was another big night for Derron Gray Jr, who picked up 190 receiving yards and four touchdowns. He was no stranger to the big play, cutting upfield on a catch that went for 53 yards. Another player making a difference was Josh Smith, who threw for 233 yards and four touchdowns while completing 82.4% of his passes.
Another reason for the win was Africentric Early College's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Jaylon Turner and Ta'Lil Spikes, who racked up four sacks between them. Turner also sacked two sacks, which is notable because Africentric Early College is undefeated when he posts at least two sacks, but 1-3 otherwise.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Independence beat Briggs 38-32 on Thursday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the 76ers.
Independence's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Montael Davis led the charge by rushing for 163 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.6 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Davis is now averaging an impressive 112 rushing yards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Nequan Harris, who threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes.
Africentric Early College now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Independence, their victory bumped their record up to 3-4.
Africentric Early College took a serious blow against Independence when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 34-6. Will Africentric Early College have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
