On Friday, North Gem faced Rockland in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The North Gem Cowboys took a hard 60-44 fall against the Rockland Bulldogs. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Cowboys of the 44-16 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in October of 2023.
Despite the loss, North Gem had strong showings from Craig Yost, who rushed for 232 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.3 yards per carry, and Rusty Hatch, who rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns. Yost showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 65 yards.
Even though they lost, North Gem was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 438 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 161 rushing yards in 11 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Zach Permann continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Rockland, rushing for 144 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry, and also throwing for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Aidan Radford was in the mix too, providing Rockland with two touchdowns.
North Gem now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Rockland, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season.
North Gem's road trip will continue as they head out to face Tri-Valley at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Tri-Valley is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 40.3 points per game this season. Rockland does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
