Football Preview: Henderson Lions vs. Chapel Hill Bulldogs
Henderson has won three straight games at home, while Chapel Hill has won three straight on the road dating back to last season, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Henderson Lions will square off against the Chapel Hill Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. The two teams are at an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2014, but likely not for long.
Henderson is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Pine Tree just ended the team's five-game winning streak last Friday. They fell 35-25 to the Pirates.
Despite the loss, Henderson got top-tier performance from Jesstin Starling, who rushed for 190 yards and a touchdown. Starling's rushing production has been exceptional as that marked his fifth straight game with at least 119 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Chapel Hill started off well but failed to capitalize on an early lead against Pine Tree. They took a 20-14 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Pirates. While the Bulldogs didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Pirates 7-0 in the first quarter.
Despite the defeat, Chapel Hill got top-tier performance from Malik Gee, who rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.4 yards per carry, and also threw for 133 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave Gee a new career-high in rushing yards. A healthy portion of Gee's aerial production (80 yards to be exact) went to Maliek Brown, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Chapel Hill didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Ke'Rion Green. He also made five total tackles, which is notable because Chapel Hill is 5-1 when he posts at least three total tackles, but 1-2 otherwise.
Henderson's loss dropped their record down to 6-2. As for Chapel Hill, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-3.
Friday's game will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Starling and Rickey Stewart. Starling has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 154.6 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Stewart has averaged 118.2 rushing yards per game this season.
Henderson was dealt a bruising 63-24 loss at the hands of Chapel Hill when the teams last played back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Stewart, who rushed for 169 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries. Now that Henderson knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
