The Ragland Purple Devils will face off against the Valley Head Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Ragland's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They claimed a resounding 35-0 victory over Fayetteville at home. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Purple Devils.
A'Ron Lee was his usual excellent self, rushing for 280 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.4 yards per carry. His longest rush was for an incredible 94 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Everett, who gained 94 total yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Ragland was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 400 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Valley Head's game on Thursday was all tied up 7-7 at the half, but luckily for them it didn't stay that way. They came out on top against North Sand Mountain by a score of 20-7.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Valley Head to victory, but perhaps none more so than Nate Bain, who rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries. Tytan Blevins got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Valley Head wouldn't let North Sand Mountain keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Ben Johnson was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance.
Ragland's win bumped their record up to 2-3. As for Valley Head, their victory bumped their record up to 5-1.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Ragland has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 199 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Valley Head struggles in that department as they've been averaging 338.5. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Ragland ended up a good deal behind Valley Head in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, losing 30-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Blevins, who rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 27 yards and a touchdown. Now that Ragland knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
