Two dominant backs in Alexander Toribio and Jordan Duke are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Rogers Vikings will head out to challenge the Classical Purple at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Rogers is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 32.4 points per game this season.
Rogers is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They came out on top against Mt. Hope by a score of 29-19. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Vikings.
Toribio was his usual excellent self, rushing for 200 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.1 yards per carry, and also picking up 37 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Rogers was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 378 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 210 rushing yards in nine consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Classical had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 29.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Thunderbolts 38-0. The result was nothing new for the Purple, who have now won eight contests by 21 points or more so far this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Classical to victory, but perhaps none more so than Duke, who rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Duke has been hot recently, having posted two or more rushing touchdowns the last three times he's played. Classical also got help from Jacoby Tavares, who showed off his sure hands for 84 receiving yards.
Another reason for the win was Classical's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. The heavy lifting was done by London Vincent and Enzo Gomez, who racked up all four sacks between them.
Classical pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 7.5 points per game. As for Rogers, their record is now 6-2.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Rogers has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 287.4 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Classical has preferred to attack from the air: they average 270 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Saturday? There's only one way to find out.
Rogers beat Classical 27-14 in their previous meeting back in October of 2019. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rogers 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
