Football Preview: Middletown Blue Dragons vs. Bunnell Bulldogs
The Middletown Blue Dragons will face off against the Bunnell Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Middletown took a loss when they played away from home last Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They had just enough and edged Bloomfield out 17-14. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Blue Dragons as it put an end to their four-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Bunnell's strategy against Norwich Free Academy on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Bunnell blew Norwich Free Academy out of the water with a 58-0 final score. The Bulldogs pushed the score to 51-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Wildcats had no chance of recovering from.
Bunnell's success was spearheaded by the efforts of KK Smalls, who rushed for 178 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and Steven Mendoza, who threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes. Smalls' longest rush was for an impressive 64 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Rody Ricketts also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Bunnell was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 305 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Bunnell's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Nathaniel Banton. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Middletown's win ended a five-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 1-1. As for Bunnell, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 2-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
