Two dominant backs in Myles Richardson and Andrew Blair are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Valley Union Blue Devils will take on the Superior Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Valley Union will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up six points back in September, then bounced right back against Fort Thomas last Friday. Valley Union put the hurt on Fort Thomas with a sharp 48-24 win. Considering the Blue Devils have won three games by more than 23 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Valley Union's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Dylan Mitchell, who threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns on only 18 passes, and Richardson, who gained 208 total yards and four touchdowns. Richardson didn't just play on offense: he also made five total tackles and defended three passes in addition to snagging an interception. Steven De La Cruz helped Mitchell out on the ground, picking up 152 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Superior faced Ray in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Superior was the clear victor by a 60-40 margin over Ray. The Panthers' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Blair was his usual excellent self, rushing for 262 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 14.6 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Ryland Duarte, who rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Superior was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 455 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 92.7 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last four contests they've averaged 280.5.
Superior didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Nicholas Rabago, Duarte, and James Henriquez picked up one apiece.
Valley Union's victory bumped their record up to 4-2. As for Superior, the win got them back to even at 4-4.
Valley Union strolled past Superior in their previous meeting back in October of 2023 by a score of 44-30. Will Valley Union repeat their success, or does Superior have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
