Football Preview: Valley Center Hornets vs. Derby Panthers
On Friday Valley Center will have to hit the road after three straight games at home. They will venture away from home to challenge the Derby Panthers at 7:00 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Friday.
Having struggled with six defeats in a row dating back to last season, Valley Center finally turned things around against South on Friday. They blew past the Cougars 21-0. The Hornets' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Valley Center's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Rylan Bailey led the charge by rushing for 138 yards and a touchdown. Those 138 rushing yards gave Bailey a new career-high. Connor Meyer was another key player, rushing for 40 yards and a touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Valley Center was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 215 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Valley Center's defense and their seven sacks. South's QB won't forget Bryson Saner anytime soon given he sacked him 3.5 times. Valley Center got some further help from Drake Thornton: he picked up a sack and made six total tackles (2.5 for loss).
Meanwhile, Derby put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They blew past Hutchinson 36-3 on the road. The 36-point effort marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Derby's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Drew Kemp, who rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns, and Arieus Finley, who rushed for 166 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.2 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Finley is now averaging an impressive 111 rushing yards per game.
Derby wouldn't let Hutchinson keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Derby can thank Braesyn Williams and Dylan Karel for forcing both of them.
Valley Center's first victory this season bumped their record up to 1-4. As for Derby, they pushed their record up to 5-0 with the win, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
