The St. Petersburg Green Devils will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against the Lakewood Spartans at 7:30 p.m. St. Petersburg's defense has only allowed 11.2 points per game this season, so Lakewood's offense will have their work cut out for them.
St. Petersburg is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Palm Harbor University just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Friday. They lost 23-3 to the Hurricanes. The Green Devils haven't had much luck with the Hurricanes recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Even though they lost, St. Petersburg was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 244 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Palm Harbor University only rushed for 137.
St. Petersburg wouldn't let Palm Harbor University keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. St. Petersburg can thank Courtney Taylor and Jacob Collins for forcing both of them. Collins also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 14.
Meanwhile, Lakewood came up short against Pinellas Park on Friday and fell 31-20. Despite 64 more yards than the Patriots, the Spartans couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
Having lost for the first time this season, St. Petersburg fell to 3-1. As for Lakewood, their loss dropped their record down to 2-2.
Friday's match might be decided in the trenches. St. Petersburg has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 249.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Lakewood struggles in that department as they've been averaging 239. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
St. Petersburg was dealt a bruising 55-0 defeat at the hands of Lakewood in their previous meeting back in October of 2020. Thankfully for St. Petersburg, Jack Smitherman (who threw for 210 yards and four touchdowns on perfect 5-for-5passing) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
