The Ballinger Bearcats will challenge the Tioga Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Ballinger finally turned things around against Hico on Friday. They pulled ahead with a 27-26 photo finish over the Tigers.
Cade Strube was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and also threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in September. Hunter Kresta also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Ballinger wouldn't let Hico keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Landon Cornutt, Aiden Pena, and Dylan Page picked up one apiece. Cornutt also made six total tackles, which is notable because Ballinger is 2-1 when he posts at least four total tackles, but 3-4 otherwise.
Meanwhile, Tioga came tearing into Friday's contest with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.6 points) and they left with even more momentum. They breezed by the Indians to the tune of 62-0. Considering the Bulldogs have won five matches by more than 23 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Tioga's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Austin Norwood, who picked up 113 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Norwood was no stranger to the big play, connecting on a big catch that went for 52 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Johnny Dorpinghaus, who picked up 89 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Tioga pushed their record up to 8-2 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 49.5 points per game. As for Ballinger, the win got them back to even at 5-5.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Ballinger has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 194.6 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Tioga has preferred to attack from the air: they average 324.9 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
