Football Preview: Westlake Lions vs. Douglas County Tigers
A feisty cat fight will be fought when Lions dukes it out withthe Douglas County Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Westlake is no doubt hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Westlake is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Carrollton on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Westlake took a blow against Carrollton, falling 63-27. The Lions were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 42-21.
Despite their loss, Westlake saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Travis Smith Jr, who picked up 259 receiving yards and two touchdowns, was perhaps the best of all. With that strong performance, Smith Jr is now averaging an impressive 121.3 receiving yards per game. Deion Thomas also played a phenomenal game despite the final result: he picked up 101 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Douglas County made easy work of East Coweta on Friday and carried off a 42-17 victory. With the Tigers ahead 28-3 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Douglas County's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was DJ Bourdeaux, who threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 12.4 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 100 yards on only five carries. Rah'Keith Kelly also helped out as he racked up 100 rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Douglas County was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 464 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Douglas County didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Elijah Davis and Jalen Ray. Douglas County got some further help from Michael Hastie: he forced a fumble and made 13 total tackles.
Westlake now has a losing record at 3-4. As for Douglas County, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 6-1.
Everything came up roses for Westlake against Douglas County in their previous matchup back in October of 2015, as the team secured a 41-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Westlake since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
