Football Game Preview: Palm Bay Pirates vs. Matanzas Pirates

Palm Bay will challenge Matanzas at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Palm Bay has struggled recently with six losses in a row, while Matanzas will arrive with three straight victories.

Palm Bay's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Titusville on Friday. They were beaten by the Terriers 42-0. While losing is never fun, the Pirates can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 395th, while the Terriers are ranked 143rd).

Meanwhile, Matanzas hadn't done well against Menendez recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The Pirates' defense stepped up to hand the Falcons a 14-0 shutout.

Palm Bay better focus on containing Wiley Conner and Ladarian Baker as the pair were huge in Matanzas' win. Conner rushed for 96 yards and one TD, while Baker picked up 86 receiving yards and one score.

Matanzas' run defense was locked in: Menendez could only muster 2.6 yards per carry. The team can thank Jezeriah Mccoy for the heroic effort on defense: he. The dominant display was nothing new: Matanzas has now limited their opponent to fewer and fewer yards per carry in three consecutive contests.

Matanzas' defense didn't let Grayson Hedrick, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for three sacks. The team can thank two different players for their defensive prowess: Mccoy and Chase Johnson, who each picked up 0.5 sacks apiece.

Matanzas' win bumped their record up to 6-3. As for Palm Bay, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-7.