Two dominant backs in David Bell and Brison Abbott are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The San Joaquin Memorial Panthers will head out to challenge the Bakersfield Drillers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
San Joaquin Memorial is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Sanger on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. San Joaquin Memorial had to suffer through a 59-21 loss at the hands of Sanger. The Panthers were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 49-14.
Meanwhile, Bakersfield strolled past Independence with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 38-21. Given the Drillers' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 95th, while the Falcons are ranked 344th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Bakersfield to victory, but perhaps none more so than Brenton Brown, who rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown on only five carries. Those 139 rushing yards gave Brown a new career-high. Another rusher making a difference was Abbott, who rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Bakersfield was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 283 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 176 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups.
Bakersfield wouldn't let Independence keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Bakersfield can thank Gerardo Sanchez and Geremy Molett for forcing both of them.
Bakersfield's win was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 30 points. As for San Joaquin Memorial, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-4.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
