Preview: New Smyrna Beach Barracudas vs. DeLand Bulldogs
The New Smyrna Beach Barracudas are on the road again on Friday and play against the DeLand Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on October 27th. New Smyrna Beach will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 179th, while DeLand is ranked 41st).
New Smyrna Beach missed an extra point against Spruce Creek on Friday and it came back to haunt them. New Smyrna Beach and Spruce Creek were almost perfectly matched up, but New Smyrna Beach suffered an agonizing 29-28 defeat.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Brett Remensnyder, who picked up 54 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Even if they lost, New Smyrna Beach's defense still kept up the pressure with five sacks. Leading the way was Kyle Nilsson and his three sacks.
Meanwhile, DeLand beat University 14-3 on Friday.
Tyron Moore continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 118 yards and a touchdown. Moore is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last four games he's played.
Spruce Creek's victory bumped their season record to 6-3 while New Smyrna Beach's loss dropped theirs to 6-2.
Friday's match might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. New Smyrna Beach has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 153 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like DeLand struggles in that department as they've been even better at 254.2 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
New Smyrna Beach came up short against DeLand in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, falling 35-28. Can New Smyrna Beach avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
