Football Preview: Pickens Dragons vs. North Hall Trojans
The Pickens Dragons will venture away from home to square off against the North Hall Trojans at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 986 yards in their previous games.
Pickens will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up seven points two weeks ago, then bounced right back against Dawson County on Friday. Pickens walked away with a 35-23 victory over Dawson County. The game marked the Dragons' most dominant win of the season.
Hayden Jones was his usual excellent self, rushing for 185 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries, while also throwing for 168 yards and a touchdown while completing 73.7% of his passes. His longest rush was for an incredible 80 yards. A healthy portion of that aerial production (87 yards to be exact) went to Mccord Purdy.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pickens was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 283 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, North Hall entered their tilt with White County on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They took down the Warriors 35-21. That's two games straight that the Trojans have won by exactly 14 points.
Smith Mcgarvey had a dynamite game for North Hall, rushing for 138 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Parker Carlton, who rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries.
Another reason for the win was North Hall's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for six sacks. Buddy Clark was especially locked on to White County's QB and sacked him 2.5 times.
Pickens now has a winning record of 3-2. As for North Hall, they now also have a winning record of 3-2.
Saturday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Pickens has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 176.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Hall struggles in that department as they've been averaging 204.4. It's looking like Saturday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Pickens beat North Hall 42-35 when the teams last played back in September of 2017. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was North Hall's Jack Brown, who rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns, and also caught a touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for Pickens to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
