Walnut lost against Hatley back in October of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Walnut Wildcats fell 28-20 to the Hatley Tigers. The Wildcats gained 172 more yards on the day, but it was the Tigers that made the best use of them.
When it comes to explaining why Walnut lost, don't look at Kemarrian Gray. Despite the final result, he rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and also picked up 49 receiving yards.
Even though they lost, Walnut was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 230 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their rushing yard total in three consecutive matches.
Even if they lost, Walnut's defense still kept up the pressure with six sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Skylar Wilbanks and Carson Jones, who racked up four sacks between them.
Ty McCollum had an outrageously good game for Hatley as he rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Hatley is 4-1 when McCollum posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 1-3 otherwise.
Walnut's loss was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 6-3. As for Hatley, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
Walnut has already played their next game, a 50-20 win against East Union on the 31st. As for Hatley, they also didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next contest, a 34-14 defeat against Hamilton on the 1st.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
