Columbia Academy has been away from home for two games now, but on Friday they'll finally make their return. They will welcome the Nashville Christian Eagles. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Columbia Academy's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Clarksville Academy 33-0 on the road. The Bulldogs' offense checked out after the first half but had enough points banked to take the game anyway.
Montae Baldwin was his usual excellent self, rushing for 120 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 103 rushing yards dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Harrison Brownlee, who picked up 113 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Nashville Christian waltzed into their match on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They took their contest at home with ease, bagging a 43-13 win over the Cougars. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee football rankings (they are ranked 73rd, while the Cougars are ranked 201st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Brock Haywood and Jared Curtis were among the main playmakers for Nashville Christian as the former rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns and the latter rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown on only six carries. Haywood got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 52 yards. Speaking of playmakers, who could forget Kaden Grigsby, who went all the way with a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Columbia Academy has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. As for Nashville Christian, they pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Columbia Academy has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 210.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Nashville Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 154.3. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Columbia Academy didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Nashville Christian when the teams last played back in October of 2023, but they still walked away with a 27-21 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Curtis, who rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 154 yards and a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Columbia Academy still be able to contain Curtis? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
