Gulf Coast and Palmetto Ridge are an even 5-5 against one another since September of 2014, but not for long. The Gulf Coast Sharks will host the Palmetto Ridge Bears at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Gulf Coast is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Aubrey Rogers, posting a 58-7 victory at home. Winning may never get old, but the Sharks sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to John Ruggiero and he. Ruggiero rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries while he rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Chamar Rivers, who rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Gulf Coast was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 411 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Palmetto Ridge never let their opponents score on Friday. They put the hurt on Bonita Springs with a sharp 20-0 win.
Gulf Coast now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Palmetto Ridge, their victory bumped their record up to 2-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest: Gulf Coast has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 353.8 total yards per game. It's a different story for Palmetto Ridge, though, as they've been averaging only 233.6. Will Gulf Coast be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will Palmetto Ridge flip the script?
Gulf Coast didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Palmetto Ridge in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, but they still walked away with a 14-10 win. Does Gulf Coast have another victory up their sleeve, or will Palmetto Ridge turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
