The Shady Side Academy Bulldogs will challenge the Steel Valley Ironmen at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Shady Side Academy took a loss when they played away from home two weeks ago, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. They walked away with a 40-32 victory over Apollo Ridge.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Steel Valley). They claimed a resounding 40-6 win over Waynesburg Central at home.
Donald Barksdale was his usual excellent self, rushing for 165 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.7 yards per carry. Del Shields made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Steel Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 222 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Waynesburg Central only rushed for 34.
Steel Valley's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. Shields picked up that interception and then proceeded to rub salt in the wound by taking it back the other way for a touchdown.
Shady Side Academy's victory bumped their record up to 2-3. As for Steel Valley, their win bumped their record up to an identical 2-3.
Shady Side Academy was dealt a bruising 46-0 defeat at the hands of Steel Valley in their previous meeting back in October of 2021. Thankfully for Shady Side Academy, Nijhay Burt (who rushed for 251 yards and five touchdowns on only 12 carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
