The Southern Choctaw Indians will face off against the Linden Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Southern Choctaw sitting on four straight wins and Linden on three.
While Southern Choctaw didn't have the best season last year (they finished 4-7), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They snuck past Marengo with a 14-8 victory on Friday. The score was all tied up 0-0 at the break, but the Indians were the better team in the second half.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Ray Bender and he. Bender rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown while he rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown. Christopher Bush didn't just play on offense: he also picked up a sack, forced a fumble, and forced a fumble.
Southern Choctaw wouldn't let Marengo keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Southern Choctaw can thank Robert Gaines and Bush for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, Linden's rock-solid defense showed up for the team's third consecutive shutout on Friday. They breezed by Choctaw County at home to the tune of 42-0. Considering the Patriots have won four matches by more than 21 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Linden was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 306 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 0 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three games they've averaged 311.
Linden's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB seven times. The heavy lifting was done by Brent Curtis and Winston Wolf, who racked up five sacks between them. Curtis also set a new season high mark in sacks with three.
Southern Choctaw's win bumped their record up to 4-0. As for Linden, their victory bumped their record up to 4-2.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Southern Choctaw has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 208.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Linden struggles in that department as they've been averaging 347.6. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
