The Defiance Bulldogs will venture away from home to face off against the Bath Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Defiance is coming into the game hot, having won their last five games.
Defiance's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Elida 35-0 at home. Given Defiance's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio football rankings (they are ranked 110th, while Elida is ranked 391st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of Defiance's win came down to the chemistry between Noah Gomez and his top target Anthony Wilder. Gomez rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns while Wilder rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. Gomez is becoming a predictor of Defiance's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is undefeated (and 1-2 when he doesn't).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Defiance was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 206 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 199 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Bath and Celina were almost perfectly matched up on Friday, but Bath suffered a 36-35 defeat. The Wildcats have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Defiance pushed their record up to 5-2 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Bath, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 5-3.
Defiance won a contest that couldn't have been any closer in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, slipping by Bath 28-27. The rematch might be a little tougher for Defiance since the squad 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
