Wharton is 1-6 against Columbia since September of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Wharton Tigers will take on the Columbia Roughnecks at 7:00 p.m. Wharton will be hoping to continue their three-game streak of scoring more points each matchup than the last.
Wharton is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their match on the road on Friday with ease, bagging a 55-10 win over Hempstead.
It was another big night for Ja'Keon Jackson, who rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries, and also threw for 179 yards and four touchdowns. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Ja'Carious Wiley also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Meanwhile, Columbia posted their biggest victory since October 6, 2023 on Friday. Everything went their way against Yoakum as Columbia made off with a 46-21 win.
Mudassir Abdullah was his usual excellent self, rushing for 150 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.9 yards per carry, and also picking up 52 receiving yards. He was no stranger to the big play, connecting on a big catch that went for 52 yards. Another player making a difference was Korbyn Faulkner, who rushed for 105 yards on only five carries.
Columbia wouldn't let Yoakum keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Columbia can thank Braden Gilliam and Grant Thrasher for forcing all of them. Thrasher also set a new season high mark in rushing yards with 168.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Columbia was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 453 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in three consecutive contests.
Wharton's victory ended a five-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-2. As for Columbia, the win also got them back to even at 2-2.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Wharton has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 163.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Columbia struggles in that department as they've been averaging 286.5. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Wharton was taken down by Columbia 55-0 when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Thankfully for Wharton, Trevon Lewis (who rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
