The St. Paul's Episcopal Saints will take on the Pike Road Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
St. Paul's Episcopal is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. Their defense stepped up to hand Helena a 26-0 shutout.
Meanwhile, Pike Road came tearing into Friday's game with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.8 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Tigers 37-7. Given the Patriots' advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama football rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Tigers are ranked 97th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Pike Road to victory, but perhaps none more so than Mike Jones, who rushed for 114 yards while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Jones' rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 101 rushing yards.
Pike Road was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 252 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 153 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Pike Road's defense and their five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Gavan Rogers and Corey Tims, who racked up four sacks between them. Another thorn in Bessemer City's side was Braylon Outlaw, who made six total tackles (1.0 for loss) and defended a pass in addition to snagging an interception which he returned one-yard for a touchdown.
St. Paul's Episcopal's win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 31.8 points per game. As for Pike Road, their victory bumped their record up to 8-3.
St. Paul's Episcopal came up short against Pike Road in their previous matchup back in November of 2021, falling 29-17. Can St. Paul's Episcopal avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
