Football Preview: J.L. Mann Patriots vs. Spartanburg Vikings
Two dominant backs in Ladainnian Martin and Trenton Lynch are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The J.L. Mann Patriots and the Spartanburg Vikings are set to duel on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
If J.L. Mann beats Spartanburg with 44 points on Friday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. J.L. Mann breezed by Clover to the tune of 44-14 on Friday. The victory was nothing new for the Patriots as they're now sitting on six straight.
Keyshun Henderson was a one-man wrecking crew for J.L. Mann as he picked up 150 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Henderson also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, making three total tackles and defending three passes. J.L. Mann also got a significant boost from Martin, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 100 yards.
J.L. Mann didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Joshua Lee, Jadyn Rice, and Raymone Whitner picked up one apiece. Whitner also set a new season high mark in total tackles with seven. J.L. Mann got some further help from Wyatt Ward: he picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, with a playoff game on the line, Spartanburg rose to the challenge on Friday. They put the hurt on the Rebels with a sharp 37-17 win. The Vikings pushed the score to 24-3 by the end of the third, a deficit the Rebels cut but never quite recovered from.
Spartanburg's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 42.8 points per game. As for J.L. Mann, their win bumped their record up to 10-2.
J.L. Mann was able to grind out a solid victory over Spartanburg in their previous meeting back in November of 2023, winning 17-7. The rematch might be a little tougher for J.L. Mann since the team 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
