The Stratford Spartans will challenge the Kingwood Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given how much these teams ran up and down the field in their prior games.
Stratford will head into Thursday's contest on the come-up: they were handed a two-point defeat in their last matchup, but they sure didn't let that happen against Oak Ridge on Thursday. Stratford took their match on the road with ease, bagging a 66-28 victory over Oak Ridge. Given the Spartans' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 146th, while the War Eagles are ranked 372nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Aaron Deleon was nothing short of spectacular: he threw for 327 yards and six touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes, and also rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 4 passing touchdowns per game. Another player making a difference was Hunter Biehl, who picked up 214 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
Stratford's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Parker Johnson, Johnathan Joseph, and Eric Ferworn picked up one apiece. Johnson is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made eight or more in the last four games he's played dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Stratford was moving up and down the field and finished the game with 607 total yards. That's the most total yards they've posted since was before the start of last season.
Meanwhile, Kingwood beat La Porte 28-21 on Thursday.
Marquez Xavion Ziair Davis went supernova for Kingwood, rushing for 170 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.1 yards per carry. Xavion Ziair Davis was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 51 yards. Holland Hargrave was another key player, throwing for 185 yards and a touchdown on only 13 passes.
Stratford pushed their record up to 1-1 with that win, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Kingwood, their victory bumped their record up to 2-0.
Stratford didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Kingwood when the teams last played back in September of 2017, but they still walked away with a 14-10 win. Will Stratford repeat their success, or does Kingwood have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
