Football Preview: West Johnston Wildcats vs. Cleveland Rams
West Johnston is 1-7 against Cleveland since September of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The West Johnston Wildcats will face off against the Cleveland Rams at 7:30 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, West Johnston didn't have too much trouble with Western Harnett on the road as they won 28-14. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.
Josiah Wells was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns on only ten carries, and also threw for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Cleveland was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Heritage 34-6 on the road. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked seventh, while the Huskies are ranked 129th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jackson Byrd was a one-man wrecking crew for Cleveland as he rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and also threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns. A healthy portion of that aerial production (86 yards to be exact) went to Malachi Thomas, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Cleveland's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB five times. The heavy lifting was done by Daniel Lugo and Nick McIntosh who racked up four sacks between them. With that strong performance, Lugo is now averaging an impressive 6 total tackles per game. Braxton Lowe was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making 14 total tackles (4.0 for loss).
West Johnston's record is now 2-0. As for Cleveland, their win was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-0.
West Johnston took a serious blow against Cleveland in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 46-0. Can West Johnston avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
