The Grafton Clippers will venture away from home to square off against the Bruton Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Grafton will head into Friday's matchup on the come-up: they were handed a 20-point defeat in their previous outing, but they didn't let that bad energy affect their game against New Kent on Friday. Grafton sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 9-6 victory over New Kent. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Clippers as it put an end to their four-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Bruton put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They blew past Northumberland, posting a 42-12 victory on the road. Fans of the Panthers have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Peter Henderson was a one-man wrecking crew for Bruton as he rushed for 209 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.7 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave Henderson a new career-high in rushing yards. Ashton Bell was in the mix too, providing Bruton with two touchdowns.
Bruton's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Brandon Freeman and Paul Mutter. With that strong performance, Mutter is now averaging an impressive 5.2 total tackles per game. Rumante Todd was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making seven total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Bruton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 296 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Grafton's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-3. As for Bruton, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.
Grafton beat Bruton 21-10 when the teams last played back in September of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Grafton since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
