Football Preview: Orange Grove Bulldogs vs. Mathis Pirates
The Orange Grove Bulldogs are taking a road trip to face off against the Mathis Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Orange Grove is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 34.7 points per game this season.
Orange Grove took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They strolled past Aransas Pass with points to spare, taking the game 34-20.
Linden Rodriguez had a dynamite game for Orange Grove, rushing for 67 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing for 102 yards and a touchdown on only nine passes. Diego Garza was another key player, rushing for 148 yards while picking up 8.7 yards per carry.
Orange Grove wouldn't let Aransas Pass keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Orange Grove can thank Dom Garza and Rickey Lauer for forcing both of them. Lauer also made six total tackles, which is notable because Orange Grove is 4-1 when he posts at least four total tackles, but 1-2 otherwise.
Orange Grove was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 237 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 162 rushing yards in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Mathis didn't have quite enough to beat Palacios on Friday and fell 43-40. The Pirates haven't had much luck with the Sharks recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Orange Grove's win was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-3. As for Mathis, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.
Orange Grove beat Mathis 44-32 when the teams last played back in October of 2021. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Mathis' Elyon Ybarra, who picked up 143 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Orange Grove to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
