The Newton Tigers will head out to face off against the Heidelberg Oilers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Newton has given up an average of 32 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Newton is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 42 points last Friday, they were much more limited against Richton on Thursday. They lost 32-8 to the Rebels.
The losing side was boosted by Jymarques Holder, who rushed for 47 yards and one touchdown.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Heidelberg). They blew past Clarkdale 60-7 on Thursday. The Oilers haven't had any issues with the Bulldogs recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.
Newton better keep an eye on Chase Craft. He was instrumental in Heidelberg's win, throwing for 304 yards and four TDs while completing 73.7% of his passes, and also rushing for 55 yards and three scores on only six carries. That's the most rushing touchdowns Craft has posted since back in October of 2024.
Newton's loss was their fourth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 2-8. Their recent woes sure aren't a result of their performance when it comes to yards per carry: they averaged an imposing 5.25 yards per carry in those games compared to only 3.28 in the others. As for Heidelberg, their win bumped their record up to 8-2.
Newton was dealt a bruising 56-0 defeat at the hands of Heidelberg when the teams last played back in September of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Oilers' Alrekus Graves, who threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns while completing 76.9% of his passes, and also rushed for 32 yards and a pair of TDs. Now that the Tigers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
