Two dominant backs in Jance Henry jr and Evan Wright are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Central Valley Warriors will square off against the Mars Fightin' Planets at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Friday, everything went Central Valley's way against Highlands as Central Valley made off with a 28-7 victory. Given Central Valley's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 76th, while Highlands is ranked 214th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Steven Rutherford looked great while leading his team to the win, rushing for 47 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 79 yards and a touchdown. Another player making a difference was Jj Work, who rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Central Valley's defense and their five sacks. Work was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up two sacks himself.
Meanwhile, Mars had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28.8 points), and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They put the hurt on Chartiers Valley with a sharp 44-19 victory. Mars pushed the score to 44-6 by the end of the third, a deficit Chartiers Valley cut but never quite recovered from.
Wright had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 138 yards and four touchdowns. Wright is absolutely dominating the rushing yard category: he's posted at least 100 every time he's taken the field this season. Cole Yoshioka made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Central Valley's victory bumped their record up to 8-3. As for Mars, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-2.
We should be in store for an exciting game Friday as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. Central Valley has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 395.6 total yards per game. However, it's not like Mars struggles in that department as they've been averaging 352.5 per game. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
Central Valley was able to grind out a solid win over Mars in their previous matchup back in November of 2015, winning 48-41. Will Central Valley repeat their success, or does Mars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
