The Clearwater Tornadoes will challenge the Tampa Catholic Crusaders at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Tampa Catholic took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Clearwater, who comes in off a win.
Clearwater is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They were the clear victor by a 41-21 margin over Gulf on Monday. Given the Tornadoes' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 99th, while the Buccaneers are ranked 223rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Jaylen White, who rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries, and also threw for 162 yards and a touchdown. Those 118 rushing yards gave him a new career-high.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Clearwater was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 205 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in three consecutive matchups.
Clearwater's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. Jeffrey Barnes Jr picked up that interception and then proceeded to rub salt in the wound by taking it back the other way for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Tampa Catholic ended up a good deal behind Mitchell two weeks ago and lost 31-14.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Joshua Balloon Jr and Corey Simms. Simms had a great game and rushed for 124 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, Balloon Jr was balling out in the loss, rushing for 111 yards and a touchdown, while also picking up 35 receiving yards.
Tampa Catholic wouldn't let Mitchell keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Tampa Catholic can thank Chad Murray and Balloon Jr for forcing both of them.
The win got Clearwater back to even at 3-3. As for Tampa Catholic, they now have a losing record at 2-3.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
