Football Preview: Jacksonville Cardinals vs. New Bern Bears
Jacksonville and New Bern are an even 4-4 against one another since September of 2014, but not for long. The Jacksonville Cardinals will challenge the New Bern Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
Last Friday, Jacksonville really took it to J.H. Rose for the full four quarters, racking up a 53-20 victory at home. The Cardinals pushed the score to 46-14 by the end of the third, a deficit the Rampants had no chance of recovering from.
Demon June had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 196 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries, and also caught a touchdown. His longest rush was for an impressive 64 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Jacksonville also got a significant boost from Eric Griffin, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 87 yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Jacksonville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 372 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted was before the start of last season.
Jacksonville's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Harlem Williams and Jackson Henry.
Meanwhile, New Bern gave up the first points last Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. They slipped by Havelock 28-27.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead New Bern to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jussan Wiggins, who picked up 57 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Another player making a difference was Terrance Mccormick, who rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Jacksonville's win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-0. As for New Bern, their record now sits at 4-1.
Everything went Jacksonville's way against New Bern when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as Jacksonville made off with a 41-18 victory. In that match, Jacksonville amassed a halftime lead of 24-3, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
