Preview: Birmingham Patriots vs. Narbonne Gauchos
After each having a week off, The Birmingham Patriots and the Narbonne Gauchos will shake off the cobwebs and take on one another at 7:00 p.m. on November 9th. Birmingham knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past five contests -- so hopefully Narbonne likes a good challenge.
Birmingham stacked a eighth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They blew past Taft, posting a 83-6 victory at home. Given Birmingham's advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 178th, while Taft is ranked 822nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Dredon Fowles was the offensive standout of the contest as he rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries. Ronnell Hewitt was another key contributor, rushing for 68 yards and a touchdown on only five carries.
Meanwhile, Narbonne suffered a tough 28-3 defeat at the hands of Gardena on Friday. Narbonne has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Birmingham's victory was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 8-2. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-9 Hueneme and 2-8 Taft (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 22.5% over those games). As for Narbonne, they have traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-6 record this season.
Birmingham came out on top in a nail-biter against Narbonne when the teams last played back in November of 2018, sneaking past 2-0. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Narbonne's Jake Garcia, who threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns while completing 87% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Birmingham to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
