Football Preview: East Paulding Raiders vs. Alexander Cougars
The East Paulding Raiders will play host again on Friday to welcome the Alexander Cougars, where kickoff is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Both might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 863 yards in their previous games.
East Paulding is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Lithia Springs, posting a 59-14 win at home. The Raiders might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matchups by 20 points or more this season.
Javen Parker continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 91 yards and three touchdowns on only seven carries. Chantz Bouknight was another key player, throwing for 148 yards and two touchdowns while completing 76.9% of his passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, East Paulding was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 222 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lithia Springs only rushed for 35.
Meanwhile, Alexander can finally bid farewell to their four-game losing streak thanks to their game on Friday. They strolled past Kennesaw Mountain with points to spare, taking the game 27-13.
Alexander relied on the efforts of Chace Collins, who threw for 207 yards and three touchdowns on only 16 passes, and Asahud Tehuti, who gained 79 total yards and two touchdowns.incredibly, Tehuti got all that yardage with just one huge grab Alexander also got a significant boost from Josh Smith, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 111 yards.
East Paulding pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Alexander, their win ended a seven-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-5.
Friday's match might be decided in the trenches. East Paulding has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 217.3 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Alexander, though, as they've been averaging only 88.3. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Everything came up roses for East Paulding against Alexander in their previous meeting back in November of 2023, as the team secured a 33-6 victory. Will East Paulding repeat their success, or does Alexander have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
