The Narbonne Gauchos and the Birmingham Patriots squared off in some playoff action on Thursday, but sadly the Narbonne Gauchos had to settle for second. Narbonne was outmatched by Birmingham on the road and fell 57-19. While losing is never fun, Narbonne can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 440th, while Birmingham is ranked 132nd).
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Birmingham to victory, but perhaps none more so than Ronnell Hewitt, who rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.2 yards per carry. Peyton Waters did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 103 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Narbonne to a paltry 31 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Birmingham's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid the passer out five times before it was all said and done. The heavy lifting was done by Bo Tonga and Maynor Morales who racked up 4.5 sacks between them.
Narbonne has been struggling recently, as they've lost five of their last six matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-7 record this season. As for Birmingham, they have yet to lose a matchup at home this season, leaving them with a 10-2 record.
Narbonne does not have any more games scheduled as of now. Birmingham will square off against Carson at 7:00 p.m. on November 17th. Carson is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune.
