Football Preview: Bolles Bulldogs vs. Columbia Tigers
The Bolles Bulldogs will stay at home for another week and welcome the Columbia Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Bolles knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past four contests -- so hopefully Columbia likes a good challenge.
Bolles' defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They breezed by Baldwin at home to the tune of 35-0. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 29th, while the Indians are ranked 232nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Bolles relied on the efforts of Tyrone Neal, who rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.2 yards per carry, and Naeem Burroughs, who picked up 162 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Those 189 rushing yards gave Neal a new career-high.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Bolles was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 201 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 157 rushing yards in four consecutive games.
Bolles' defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Mack Hellman and Santana Starks. Another thorn in Baldwin's side was MJ Jenkins, who picked up a sack and made seven total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Columbia was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They lost 27-6 to St. Augustine. The match marked the Tigers' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Despite the defeat, Columbia saw an underclassman step up: Kyten Davis picked up two sacks and made four total tackles.
Bolles' win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 4-1. As for Columbia, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Bolles has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 165.4 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Columbia, though, as they've been averaging only 85.8. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Bolles came up short against Columbia in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, falling 35-31. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Columbia's Jonathan Andrews, who rushed for 67 yards and three touchdowns. Now that Bolles knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
