Football Game Preview: Judson Rockets vs. East Central Hornets

Judson is 7-2 against East Central since October of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Rockets will host the Hornets at 7:30 p.m. Neither of those teams managed to put together many points in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.

Things were looking good for Judson after they put the first points on the board last Thursday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They received a blow as they fell 29-10 to Bowie. While the Rockets didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Bulldogs 7-0 in the first quarter.

Marcel Smith

Total Tackles

09/18/25 vs Bowie	15
09/12/25 @ SA Roosevelt	5
09/05/25 @ Hutto	5
08/28/25 vs Johnson	15
11/07/24 vs Clemens	7
+ 2 more games

Judson didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off five passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Ayden Ramirez, Marcel Smith, Elieus Simpson, and Demario Alexis picked up one apiece. Smith has been hot, having also posted five or more total tackles the last seven times he's played. Simpson got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 49-13, which was the final score in East Central's tilt against Boerne on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Hornets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 323rd, while the Greyhounds are ranked 132nd).

Although East Central took the loss, they still got scores from Juan Villarreal and Joseph Kelley.

Judson's loss dropped their record down to 1-3. As for East Central, their defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 1-3.

Judson came up short against East Central when the teams last played back in September of 2024, falling 30-23. Thankfully for the Rockets, Isaiah Mackey (who threw for 151 yards and a pair of TDs, and also punched in one score on the ground) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.