The East Lake Eagles will head out to square off against the Mitchell Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. East Lake has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with three straight losses, while Mitchell will come in with three straight wins.
Last Friday, East Lake lost to St. Petersburg at home by a 32-16 margin.
Despite the defeat, East Lake got top-tier performance from Jeremiah Cooper, who picked up 100 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown. Cooper got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run and that went for an incredible 53 yards. Eli Millian was another key player, having thrown for 271 yards and onetouchdown.
Even though they lost, East Lake was moving up and down the field and finished the game with 462 total yards. That's the most total yards they've posted since was before the start of last season.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Mitchell on the road against Cypress Creek on Friday as the team secured a 51-12 victory. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 105th, while the Coyotes are ranked 311th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mitchell's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Corey Simms, who rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Simms is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryce Backus, who picked up 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
East Lake's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 0-3. As for Mitchell, their record is now 3-0.
East Lake came up short against Mitchell when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 24-16. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Simms, who rushed for 175 yards and a touchdown. Now that East Lake knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
