Oxford has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against The Jacksonville Golden Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Friday, Oxford got the win against Center Point by a conclusive 35-14. Oxford pushed the score to 28-8 by the end of the third, a deficit Center Point had little chance of recovering from.
Mason Mims looked great while leading his team to the win, throwing for 282 yards and three touchdowns while completing 88.9% of his passes, and also punching in a rushing score. Nick Richardson also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Center Point to a paltry 241 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Oxford's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out three times before it was all said and done. Leading the way was Hudson Gilman and his two sacks.
Meanwhile, Jacksonville had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 45.4 points), and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They really took it to White Plains for the full four quarters, racking up a 62-0 victory at home. Given Jacksonville's advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama football rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while White Plains is ranked 304th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Jim Ogle, who threw for 254 yards and five touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. The team also got some help courtesy of KyDric Fisher, who picked up 107 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Their wins bumped Oxford to 7-2 and Jacksonville to 8-1.
We should be in store for an exciting game Friday as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. Oxford has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 374.8 total yards per game. However, it's not like Jacksonville struggles in that department as they've been even better at 460.8 per game. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Oxford didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Jacksonville in their previous matchup back in October of 2022, but they still walked away with a 34-28 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Oxford since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
