Blue Ridge has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. After each having a week off, they and the Payson Longhorns will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few points on average, (Blue Ridge: 4.1, Payson: 15) so any points scored will be well earned.
Blue Ridge is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Fountain Hills at home to the tune of 62-7 last Friday. Considering the Yellow Jackets have won six contests by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Karlo Harris continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries, while also picking up 30 receiving yards and a touchdown. He got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 65 yards. Another player making a difference was Luke Berlin, who threw for 115 yards and two touchdowns on only eight passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Blue Ridge was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 248 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 172 rushing yards in seven consecutive matches.
Blue Ridge's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB seven times. The heavy lifting was done by Noah Chee and Anthony Seitz, who racked up four sacks between them. Seitz is also crushing it when it comes to total tackles: he's made at least five every time he's taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, Payson entered their tilt with Round Valley two weeks ago with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They snuck past the Elks with a 29-25 victory.
A big part of Payson's win came down to the chemistry between Nolan Keeney and his top target Keaton Potter. Keeney threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns while Potter picked up 73 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Payson didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Mason Hererra and Bert Scheer. Another thorn in Round Valley's side was Jonny McAnerny, who picked up 0.5 sacks, forced a fumble, and made eight total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Blue Ridge's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-0. As for Payson, their win bumped their record up to 6-1.
Everything came up roses for Blue Ridge against Payson in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, as the team secured a 44-13 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Blue Ridge since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
