Football Preview: R-S Central Hilltoppers vs. East Rutherford Cavaliers
R-S Central has enjoyed the comforts of home their last five games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the East Rutherford Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. That match will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Karlen Mcentyre and Brandon Pinkerton.
R-S Central is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Porter Ridge on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. R-S Central lost 42-17 to Porter Ridge. While losing is never fun, the Hilltoppers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 242nd, while the Pirates are ranked 59th).
Meanwhile, East Rutherford won against Hendersonville on October 11th with 49 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. East Rutherford simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Polk County 49-6. The Cavaliers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by 28 points or more this season.
Pinkerton continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 131 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.2 yards per carry. He didn't just play on offense: he also picked up a sack, forced a fumble, and made six total tackles in addition to snagging an interception. Cj Jackson got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
East Rutherford didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Pinkerton and Jackson. Jason Arrowood was another major factor on D, forcing a fumble, making six total tackles (1.5 for loss), and defending three passes.
R-S Central's defeat dropped their record down to 4-4. As for East Rutherford, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
R-S Central came up short against East Rutherford when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 42-37. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pinkerton, who rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns, and also picked up 51 receiving yards. Now that R-S Central knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
