Football Preview: Liberty Patriots vs. Central Grizzlies
Liberty and Central are an even 5-5 against one another since November of 2015, but not for long. The Liberty Patriots will venture away from home to challenge the Central Grizzlies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Liberty's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed last Thursday. They breezed by Stockdale to the tune of 49-0. That 49 point margin sets a new team best for the Patriots this season.
Liberty can attribute much of their success to Jalen Murphy, who rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries, and Robert Smith, who threw for 123 yards and two touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes.
Liberty was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 203 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 152 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Central waltzed into their match on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They strolled past the Bears with points to spare, taking the game 39-23. Given the Grizzlies' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 31st, while the Bears are ranked 100th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Central didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Marcus Nolen and Chris Perry.
Liberty's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. Those victories were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 6.7 points per game. As for Central, their record now sits at 8-2.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Liberty has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 186.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 191. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Liberty took a serious blow against Central when the teams last played back in September, falling 41-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Central's Jelani Dippel, who threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. Now that Liberty 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
