The Apalachee Wildcats will take on the Walnut Grove Warriors at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Apalachee is headed into Friday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their 12th straight game dating back to last season on Friday. They had to suffer through a 49-7 loss at the hands of Cherokee Bluff. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 383rd, while the Bears are ranked 120th).
Meanwhile, Walnut Grove hasn't done well against Loganville recently (they were 0-6 in their previous six matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Walnut Grove blew past Loganville, posting a 48-19 victory on the road.
Emadd Howard went supernova for Walnut Grove, rushing for 305 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 10.2 yards per carry. Howard was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 61 yards. Billy Hendrix was in the mix too, providing Walnut Grove with two rushing touchdowns touchdowns.
Walnut Grove didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Nicholas Smith and Nick Pope. Walnut Grove got some further help from Jake Moss: he made 11 total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Walnut Grove was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 439 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since was before the start of last season.
Apalachee's defeat dropped their record down to 0-2. As for Walnut Grove, their record now sits at 2-0.
Everything came up roses for Apalachee against Walnut Grove in their previous meeting back in October of 2021 as the squad secured a 35-7 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Walnut Grove's Kendall Lee, who rushed for 196 yards, and also threw for 48 yards and a touchdown while completing 100% of his passes. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Apalachee to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
