Two dominant backs in Brison Abbott and David Bell are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Bakersfield Drillers will welcome the San Joaquin Memorial Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Bakersfield is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 41.3 points per game this season.
Last Friday, Bakersfield didn't have too much trouble with Independence as they won 38-21. Given the Drillers' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 95th, while the Falcons are ranked 344th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Bakersfield's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brenton Brown, who rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown on only five carries. Those 139 rushing yards gave Brown a new career-high. Abbott was another key rusher, rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Bakersfield wouldn't let Independence keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Bakersfield can thank Gerardo Sanchez and Geremy Molett for forcing both of them.
Bakersfield was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 283 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 176 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, a victory for San Joaquin Memorial just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were beaten by Sanger 59-21. The Panthers were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 49-14.
Bakersfield pushed their record up to 9-1 with the win, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 30 points. As for San Joaquin Memorial, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-4.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
