Preview: Canterbury Crusaders vs. Florida School for the Deaf & Blind Dragons
The Canterbury Crusaders will head out on the road to face off against the Florida School for the Deaf & Blind Dragons at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Canterbury walked away with it. They strolled past Real Life Christian Academy with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 46-28. Canterbury pushed the score to 39-14 by the end of the third, a deficit Real Life Christian Academy cut but never quite recovered from.
Jordan Battle continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 223 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per carry. Roman Wilder also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Florida School for the Deaf & Blind faced Eastland Christian in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Florida School for the Deaf & Blind snuck past Eastland Christian with a 48-42 victory on Thursday. This was one game where the offenses had no trouble playing at a high level.
Ajani Zahira was his usual excellent self, rushing for 228 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 14.3 yards per carry. Frantz Valbrun was another key contributor, rushing for 58 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries.
Canterbury is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a massive bump to their 5-5 record this season. As for Florida School for the Deaf & Blind, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 6-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Canterbury has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 262 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Florida School for the Deaf & Blind struggles in that department as they've been even better at 382.3 per game. It's looking like Thursday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
