Football Game Preview: Arlington Admirals vs. North Rockland Raiders

For the second straight game, Arlington will face off against North Rockland. The Admirals will challenge the Raiders at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Arlington has given up an average of 26.5 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

On Thursday, Arlington came up short against North Rockland and fell 34-27. While losing is never fun, the Admirals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York football rankings (they are ranked 206th, while the Raiders are ranked 81st).

Arlington better keep an eye on Christopher Norman. He was instrumental in North Rockland's win, rushing for 174 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.6 yards per carry, and also picking up 35 receiving yards. Norman is becoming a predictor of the Raiders' success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is undefeated (and 2-3 when he doesn't).

North Rockland was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 420 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

One reason for the win was North Rockland's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Arlington's QB won't forget Noah Kukielczak anytime soon given he sacked him twice. North Rockland got some further help from Aiden Feliciano: he forced two fumbles and made nine total tackles (1.0 for loss).

North Rockland is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 13.4 points on average over those games. As for Arlington, they dropped their record down to 2-6 with the loss, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season.