The Matoaca Warriors will challenge the Petersburg Crimson Wave at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Matoaca has seven straight victories, Petersburg has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Matoaca will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating Hopewell, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. Matoaca simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Hopewell 42-9 at home. Considering the Warriors have won five games by more than 27 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Matoaca had a senior duo take command as Dillon Newton-Short picked up 118 receiving yards and two touchdowns and Bryce Yates threw for 209 yards and three touchdowns. Trevion Mills helped Yates out on the ground, rushing for 96 yards and a touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Matoaca's defense and their three sacks. In that department, Aaron Simmons was the leader with two. Victor Afolabi was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making seven total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, a win for Petersburg just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the squad wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were dealt a 56-12 defeat at the hands of Dinwiddie. While losing is never fun, the Crimson Wave can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia football rankings (they are ranked 161st, while the Generals are ranked tenth).
Matoaca pushed their record up to 7-0 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Petersburg, their loss dropped their record down to 2-5.
Everything came up roses for Matoaca against Petersburg in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, as the team secured a 45-0 win. Does Matoaca have another victory up their sleeve, or will Petersburg turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
