Bartram Trail is 5-0 against Mandarin since August of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Bartram Trail Bears will head out on the road to face off against the Mandarin Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Florida (Bartram Trail is ranked 39th, while Mandarin is ranked 33rd).
After only seven points in their last contest, Bartram Trail made sure to put some points up on the board against Oakleaf on Friday. Bartram Trail skirted past Oakleaf 45-42.
Bartram Trail can attribute much of their success to Laython Biddle, who rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Trujillo, who rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Mandarin stacked a sixth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Thursday. They really took it to Sandalwood for the full four quarters, racking up a 43-0 win on the road. Mandarin pushed the score to 36-0 by the end of the third, a deficit Sandalwood had no chance of recovering from.
Mandarin's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Tramell Jones, who threw for 181 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 passes. Jaime Ffrench Jr was in the mix too, providing Mandarin with two touchdowns.
Bartram Trail now has a winning record of 5-4. As for Mandarin, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 7-2.
Bartram Trail took their victory against Mandarin when the teams last played back in November of 2022 by a conclusive 42-20. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bartram Trail since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
