Football Preview: Sharyland Rattlers vs. Mercedes Tigers
Sharyland has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will take on the Mercedes Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 924 yards in their previous games.
Sharyland is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their matchup at home on Thursday with ease, bagging a 50-11 victory over Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest.
Calvin Harris was his usual excellent self, throwing for 315 yards and five touchdowns while completing 82.1% of his passes, and also rushing for 59 yards on only eight carries. A healthy portion of that aerial production (93 yards to be exact) went to Bruno Cavazos, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Meanwhile, Mercedes had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 28-7 margin over the Cougars.
Mercedes relied on the efforts of Robert Sanchez, who gained 116 total yards and two touchdowns, and Diego Bravo, who rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown. Sanchez was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 52 yards.
Mercedes was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 301 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 193 rushing yards in four consecutive games.
The win got Sharyland back to even at 2-2. As for Mercedes, their record now sits at 3-1.
We should be in store for an exciting game as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. Sharyland has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 396.2 total yards per game. However, it's not like Mercedes struggles in that department as they've been averaging 462.8. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Sharyland skirted past Mercedes 6-3 in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Will Sharyland repeat their success, or does Mercedes have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
