Preview: Laurel Spartan vs. Clairton Bears
The Laurel Spartan will head out on the road to face off against the Clairton Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Laurel fell on hard times earlier this season, but after back-to-back wins it seems like their luck might finally be changing. They enjoyed a cozy 22-7 victory over Shenango on Friday.
Laurel's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kolton Carlson led the charge by picking up 99 receiving yards and a touchdown. Carlson was no stranger to the big play, connecting with a big catch that went for 69 yards. Laurel also got help from Tyler Shearer who showed off his sure hands for 103 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Clairton had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28.3 points), and they went ahead and made it eight on Friday. They blew past Jeannette 60-14 on the road. The result was nothing new for Clairton, who have now won six contests by 28 points or more so far this season.
Drahcir Jones continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 204 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 12.0 yards per carry. Donte Wright was another key contributor, gaining 42 total yards and three touchdowns.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Jeannette to a paltry 174 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Clairton's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out four times before it was all said and done. In fact, those sacks all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Tahvaz Armstrong.
Laurel is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a massive bump to their 4-6 record this season. As for Clairton, their victory was their fourth straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 8-2.
Friday's game might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Laurel has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 183.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Clairton struggles in that department as they've been even better at 239.5 per game. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Laurel suffered a grim 33-7 defeat to Clairton in their previous meeting back in September of 2019. Can Laurel avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
