After each having a week off, the Montgomery Bears and the Dayton Broncos will shake off the cobwebs and challenge one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Dayton is hoping to do what Elgin couldn't two weeks ago: put an end to Montgomery's winning streak (dating back to last season), which now stands at five games. Montgomery blew past Elgin, posting a 67-26 victory at home. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 214th, while the Wildcats are ranked 594th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Montgomery's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Damion Taylor led the charge by rushing for 95 yards and a touchdown, while also picking up 43 receiving yards. Taylor's longest rush was for an incredible 89 yards. Another rusher making a difference was Keldrid Ben, who rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Montgomery was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 399 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 203 rushing yards in five consecutive games dating back to last season.
Montgomery wouldn't let Elgin keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Montgomery can thank Phillip Raglin and Braxden Havard for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, after only ten points in their last matchup, Dayton made sure to put some points up on the board against Porter two weeks ago. Everything went Dayton's way against Porter as Dayton made off with a 42-20 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Broncos have posted against the Spartans since November 7, 2014.
Dayton's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Jaleel Kendrick, who rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Kendrick a new career-high in rushing yards. Jerry Prieto Jr was another key signal caller, throwing for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Dayton's defense and their 11 sacks. Andrew Soliz led the group effort, picking up four of those sacks all by himself. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last seven games he's played dating back to last season. Angelo Hadley was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Montgomery's win bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Dayton, they now have a winning record of 2-1.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Montgomery has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 359 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Dayton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 160. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Montgomery came up short against Dayton in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 39-34. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Dayton's Denim Foster, who rushed for 74 yards and three touchdowns. Now that Montgomery knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
