Football Preview: Smoky Mountain Mustangs vs. Tuscola Mountaineers
Smoky Mountain has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will face off against the Tuscola Mountaineers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Smoky Mountain will be hoping to continue their three-game streak of scoring more points each matchup than the last.
Smoky Mountain is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing East Henderson: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Smoky Mountain blew East Henderson out of the water with a 53-6 final score. That 47 point margin sets a new team best for the Mustangs this season.
Ayden Johnson was a one-man wrecking crew for Smoky Mountain as he rushed for 253 yards and three touchdowns on only 15 carries. Johnson is crushing it when it comes to rushing yards: he's rushed for at least 154 every time he's taken the field this season. Backing up that air attack was Rylee Smith, who rushed for 95 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Smoky Mountain was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 618 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Meanwhile, Tuscola suffered their closest loss since August 18, 2023 on Friday. They fell just short of West Henderson by a score of 20-17. The Mountaineers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Even if they lost, Tuscola's defense still kept up the pressure with three sacks. Leading the way was Conner Song with two. He also set a new season high mark in total tackles with nine. Another thorn in West Henderson's side was Walker Bolden, who made 15 total tackles (3.0 for loss).
The win got Smoky Mountain back to even at 3-3. As for Tuscola, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-3.
Smoky Mountain came up short against Tuscola in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 34-21. Thankfully for Smoky Mountain, Jed West (who threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 61 yards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
