The Heritage Huskies will venture away from home to take on the New Hanover Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Heritage's last matchup with Wake Forest could've gone either way, but unfortunately the same can't be said for the pair's contest on Friday. The Huskies lost 24-3 to the Cougars. Having soared to a lofty 32 points in the game before, the Huskies couldn't push the score so high this time.
The losing side was boosted by Cole Perry, who rushed for 75 yards, and also threw for 169 yards on 12 of 26 attempts.
Even if they lost, Heritage's defense still kept up the pressure with three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Seth Rucker, Gabe Roberts, and Kevin Palma, who each picked up one sack apiece. Heritage got some further help from Rucker: he picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for New Hanover, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They blew past Topsail 35-14 on Friday. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 115th, while the Pirates are ranked 268th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.
Heritage better keep an eye on Tony Clark-Nelson. He was instrumental in New Hanover's win, rushing for 117 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. Clark-Nelson's longest rush was for an impressive 58 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Tanahri Johnson was another key signal caller, throwing for 146 yards and one TD.
New Hanover's run defense was locked in: Topsail could only muster -0.8 yards per carry. The team can thank Jayden George for the heroic effort on defense: he. New Hanover's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.31 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 5.7 on average over their last five games.
The victory got New Hanover back to even at 5-5. As for Heritage, with the defeat, they broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 4-6.
