Football Preview: Little River Academy Bumblebees vs. Troy Trojans
The Little River Academy Bumblebees will head out to challenge the Troy Trojans at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Little River Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 29.1 points per game this season.
Little River Academy is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Franklin on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Little River Academy was outmatched by Franklin at home and fell 51-15. The Bumblebees haven't had much luck with the Lions recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.
Although Little River Academy took the loss, they still got scores from Brian Grissom and Josh Mann.
Meanwhile, Troy hadn't done well against C.H. Yoe recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Troy strolled past C.H. Yoe with points to spare, taking the game 35-17. Given the Trojans' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 252nd, while the Yoemen are ranked 648th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of Troy's victory came down to the chemistry between Joseph Mcmurtry and his top target Cohen Ketcham. Mcmurtry threw for 219 yards and three touchdowns while Ketcham picked up 137 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Ketcham got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 74 yards.
Troy didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Micah Mckissick, Tedricc Calhoun, and Peyton Valdez picked up one apiece. With that strong performance, Valdez is now averaging an impressive 5.3 total tackles per game. Troy got some further help from Grayson Bogausch: he made 13 total tackles (2.0 for loss) and defended a pass.
Little River Academy's loss dropped their record down to 1-6. As for Troy, they pushed their record up to 6-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Little River Academy has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 160.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Troy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 153.1. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Little River Academy against Troy in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 49-21 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Troy's Reed Ketcham, who picked up 194 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Little River Academy still be able to contain Ketcham? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
