The Dayton Broncos will challenge the West Fork Gators at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Dayton will be strutting in after a victory while West Fork will be coming in after a loss.
On Friday, Dayton blew past Splendora, posting a 34-7 win. The result was nothing new for the Broncos, who have now won three matchups by 21 points or more so far this season.
It was another big night for Denim Foster, who rushed for 62 yards and three scores, and also threw for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns while completing 73.9% of his passes. He is becoming a predictor of Dayton's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 4-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Jesse Price, who picked up 137 receiving yards and one TD.
Dayton didn't let much get past them through the air: they limited Splendora to a completion percentage of just 33.3%. The team can thank Devorian Bradford for the heroic effort on defense: he. Dayton has been improving in that area: they had allowed a completion percentage of 0.63 earlier this season, but they've only allowed one of 0.63 in their last three games.
Colton Havard
| 10/24/25 @ Splendora | 11 |
| 10/17/25 vs Huntsville | 12 |
| 10/10/25 @ Lake Creek | 14 |
| 10/03/25 @ Nederland | 21 |
| 09/26/25 vs Montgomery | 10 |
| + 13 more games |
Dayton's defense also made the game a nightmare for Brayden Hinton, racking up ten sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Merkle Judge and Colton Havard, who racked up five sacks between them. Havard has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 18 times he's played. Dayton got some further help from Rakin Akmal: he picked up a sack and made seven total tackles in addition to snagging an interception.
Meanwhile, West Fork fell victim to Montgomery and their airtight defense on Thursday. They were dealt a 52-0 defeat at the hands of the Bears. While losing is never fun, the Gators can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 432nd, while the Bears are ranked 133rd).
Dayton's victory bumped their record up to 5-3. As for West Fork, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-4.
Friday's game might be decided on the ground. Dayton has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 174.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like West Fork struggles in that department as they've been averaging 156.8 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's contest turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Everything came up roses for Dayton against West Fork when the teams last played back in October of 2024, as the squad secured a 40-8 win. Will the Broncos repeat their success, or do the Gators have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
