Football Preview: Odessa Ducks vs. Howard Wildcats
Odessa has been on the road for three straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will host the Howard Wildcats at 7:00 p.m.
Odessa is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Delaware's top teams: Wilmington Friends, who was ranked 24th in their home state at the time (Odessa was ranked 25th). Odessa fell 29-20 to Wilmington Friends on Thursday.
Despite the defeat, Odessa had strong showings from Isaiah Melton, who rushed for 110 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries, and Chase Belin, who rushed for 208 yards while picking up 9.0 yards per carry. Melton is becoming a predictor of Odessa's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 2-1 (and 0-3 when he doesn't).
Even though they lost, Odessa was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 318 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 71.7 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three games they've averaged 242.
Meanwhile, Howard had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Yellowjackets 46-0 on the road. With that win, the Wildcats brought their scoring average up to 27.6 points per game.
Xavier Grier was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries.
Howard didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Julian Cooper and Robert Weightman.
Odessa's loss dropped their record down to 2-4. As for Howard, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Odessa has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 156.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Howard struggles in that department as they've been averaging 188.2. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Odessa came up short against Howard when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 30-25. Thankfully for Odessa, Rj Matthews (who threw for 115 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 60 yards on only seven carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
