Football Preview: Hiram Hornets vs. Riverwood Raiders
After both having extra time off, the Hiram Hornets and the Riverwood Raiders will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hiram knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past three matches -- so hopefully Riverwood likes a good challenge.
Hiram will head into Friday's game out to bounce back: they lost a heartbreaker back in October after a huge 45-point victory in their prior game. They fell just short of Cartersville by a score of 45-43. The loss continues a trend for the Hornets in their matchups with the Hurricanes: they've now lost five in a row.
Despite the defeat, Hiram got top-tier performance from Kaden Hamilton, who rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry, and also caught a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards Hamilton has posted since back in August. Another player making a difference was Ethan Latimore, who threw for 100 yards and two touchdowns while completing 72.7% of his passes.
Even though they lost, Hiram was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 324 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 163 rushing yards in 22 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, a win for Riverwood just wasn't in the cards last Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They lost 42-22 to Pope. The Raiders have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
The losing side was boosted by Zach Stair, who picked up 38 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 30 yards.
Riverwood didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Austin Greer and Brandon Leonard. Leonard has been hot , having also posted at least one defended passe the last six times he's played.
Hiram's loss ended a five-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 5-5. As for Riverwood, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-9.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Hiram has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 287.2 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Riverwood, though, as they've been averaging only 53.4. How will they fare against such a dominant running game? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
