Lely is 0-10 against Naples since October of 2014 but things could change on Friday. After both having extra time off, the two teams will dust off their jerseys to square off against one another at 7:30 p.m. One thing working in Lely's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last five matchups.
Lely will head into Friday's match out to bounce back: they came back down to earth last Friday after soaring to a 34-point contest in their last game. They fell just short of Immokalee by a score of 47-44. While the Trojans had to settle for second, they closed the game well in the third quarter, where they outscored the Indians 12-7.
Lely might have lost, but man, Nino Joseph was a machine: he rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Joseph's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fifth straight game with at least 220 rushing yards dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Carter Quinn, who threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns.
Even though they lost, Lely was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 235 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 235 rushing yards in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Naples slipped by Dunbar 21-20 back in September. Given the Golden Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 24th, while the Tigers are ranked 85th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Shawn Simeon, who rushed for 207 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in November of 2023.
Naples' defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB seven times. The heavy lifting was done by Sean Kabengele and Brady Clark, who racked up five sacks between them. Khari Bendolph was another major factor on D, picking up a sack, forcing a fumble, and making 11 total tackles.
Lely's defeat dropped their record down to 3-3. As for Naples, their record now sits at 6-1.
Friday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Joseph and Simeon. Joseph has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 252.8 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Simeon has averaged 173.2 rushing yards per game this season.
Lely was dealt a bruising 44-7 loss at the hands of Naples when the teams last played back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Simeon, who rushed for 260 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 13.7 yards per carry. Now that Lely knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
