The Rock Port Blue Jays will face off against East Atchison [Tarkio/Fairfax] on Friday. Rock Port is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52 points per game this season.
Rock Port is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Missouri's top teams: South Nodaway, who was ranked third in their home state at the time (Rock Port was ranked eighth). Rock Port took a 32-20 hit to the loss column at the hands of South Nodaway two weeks ago. The Blue Jays' defeat signaled the end of their eight-game winning streak.
Although Rock Port took the loss, they still got scores from Brock Holmes, Tayden Cook, and Kendan Melton-Davis.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but East Atchison [Tarkio/Fairfax] had no problem doing just that on Friday. They blew past the Panthers, posting a 44-12 victory. East Atchison [Tarkio/Fairfax] might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matches by 32 points or more this season.
Owen DeRosier was his usual excellent self, rushing for 183 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.3 yards per carry, and also picking up 31 receiving yards and a touchdown. He is becoming a predictor of East Atchison [Tarkio/Fairfax]'s success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is undefeated (and 2-5 when he doesn't).
East Atchison [Tarkio/Fairfax] was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 300 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in November of 2023.
East Atchison [Tarkio/Fairfax] is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 5-5 record this season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 45.6 points per game. As for Rock Port, their loss was their first of the season and makes their record 8-1.
Everything came up roses for Rock Port against East Atchison [Tarkio/Fairfax] in their previous matchup back in October, as the squad secured a 44-12 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rock Port 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
