Football Preview: Stanhope Elmore Mustangs vs. Calera Eagles
The Stanhope Elmore Mustangs will venture away from home to challenge the Calera Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Stanhope Elmore is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road.
Last Friday, Stanhope Elmore lost to Wetumpka at home by a 27-13 margin. The Mustangs haven't had much luck with the Indians recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Even if they lost, Stanhope Elmore's defense still kept up the pressure with three sacks. Leading the way was Kamran Anderson with two. He has been hot , having also posted six or more total tackles the last eight times he's played. Stanhope Elmore got some further help from Zachariah Goodson: he made 12 total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, a win for Calera just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They took a blow against Helena, falling 49-21. While losing is never fun, the Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Alabama football rankings (they are ranked 150th, while the Huskies are ranked 23rd).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Antorious Johnson, who threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 48 yards. A healthy portion of Johnson's aerial production (100 yards to be exact) went to Cameron Hagler, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Stanhope Elmore now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Calera, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-6.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Stanhope Elmore has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 344.7 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Calera has preferred to attack from the air: they average 285.9 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Stanhope Elmore ended up a good deal behind Calera when the teams last played back in October of 2021, losing 20-3. Can Stanhope Elmore avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
