Football Preview: First Baptist Saints vs. Mercy Culture Prep Royals
The First Baptist Saints will head out on the road to face off against the Mercy Culture Prep Royals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (First Baptist has 17 straight victories, Mercy Culture Prep has eight straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
First Baptist is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Covenant Christian: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that First Baptist blew Covenant Christian out of the water with a 56-14 final score. With the Saints ahead 42-14 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Bradlee Mays continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, picking up 155 receiving yards and four touchdowns. First Baptist also got a significant boost from Jonah Murphy, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 91 yards.
First Baptist wouldn't let Covenant Christian keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. First Baptist can thank Camp Pugh and George Anagnostis for forcing both of them. Kore Thomas was another major factor on D, picking up 4.5 sacks, making seven total tackles (6.0 for loss), and making seven total tackles (6.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, First Baptist was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 236 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Mercy Culture Prep scored the most points they've had all season on Friday, but it wasn't enough. They lost to Coram Deo Academy on the road by a 38-20 margin.
Despite the loss, Mercy Culture Prep got top-tier performance from Jon Anthony Lardizabal, who rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown.
First Baptist's win was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-0. As for Mercy Culture Prep, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-4.
Everything came up roses for First Baptist against Mercy Culture Prep in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 68-26 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Mercy Culture Prep's Josh Marshall, who picked up 193 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for First Baptist to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
