Football Preview: West Stokes Wildcats vs. North Forsyth Vikings
The West Stokes Wildcats will take on the North Forsyth Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. West Stokes will be looking to keep their five-game home win streak dating back to last season alive.
Last Thursday, West Stokes strolled past Morehead with points to spare, taking the game 24-6. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 99th, while the Panthers are ranked 281st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lindann Fleming was his usual excellent self, rushing for 152 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.5 yards per carry. His longest rush was for an incredible 71 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Aydden Cherry, who rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on only five carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: West Stokes was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 225 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to West Stokes' defense and their seven sacks. It was truly a group effort as Kobe Aaron Mcmillian, Noah Wilkinson, and Daniel Stanley picked up two apiece.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask North Forsyth). They breezed by McMichael at home to the tune of 59-0 on Thursday. Considering the Vikings have won three contests by more than 25 points this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
North Forsyth's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Karon Lindsay led the charge by rushing for 100 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries. Another player making a difference was Amare Mitchell, who gained 58 total yards and two touchdowns.
North Forsyth wouldn't let McMichael keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. North Forsyth can thank Xavier Johnson and Eric Archie ,Jr for forcing all of them. Johnson is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made seven or more in the last nine games he's played dating back to last season.
West Stokes' win bumped their record up to 5-1. As for North Forsyth, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. West Stokes has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 175.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Forsyth struggles in that department as they've been averaging 154.7. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
West Stokes was able to grind out a solid victory over North Forsyth when the teams last played back in September of 2023, winning 15-2. Will West Stokes repeat their success, or does North Forsyth have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
