Preview: Melrose Golden Wildcats vs. Millington Central Trojans
Melrose is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Millington Central is on a seven-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Melrose Golden Wildcats will take on the Millington Central Trojans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Friday, Melrose was able to grind out a solid win over Craigmont, taking the game 33-22. Melrose pushed the score to 33-8 by the end of the third, a deficit Craigmont cut but never quite recovered from.
Joe Williams and Rhyan Brown were among the main playmakers for Melrose as the former picked up 94 receiving yards and two touchdowns and the latter gained 89 total yards and two touchdowns. Williams was no stranger to the big play, lighting up the secondary with a catch that went for 64 yards.
Another reason for the win was Melrose's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Leading the way was Aquavious Hopson and his three sacks.
Meanwhile, Millington Central beat Brighton 50-42 on Friday.
McCoy Pugh was his usual excellent self, rushing for 215 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 8.6 yards per carry, and also throwing for 146 yards and a touchdown. Pugh is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jaydon Williams, who rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns.
Melrose has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season. As for Millington Central, their victory bumped their record up to 8-1.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's matchup: Melrose has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 185.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Millington Central struggles in that department as they've been even better at 223.6 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
