Blue Ridge hasn't had much luck against Bells recently, but that could start to change on Friday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when Tigers challenges the Bells Panthers at 7:30 p.m. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Blue Ridge will bounce into Friday's matchup after beating Leonard, who they had gone 0-6 against in their six prior meetings. Blue Ridge breezed by Leonard on the road to the tune of 49-21 on Friday. Considering Blue Ridge has won four games by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Blue Ridge had a senior duo take command as Ryder Clayton gained 284 total yards and four touchdowns and Micah Dickerson threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 13.7 yards per attempt. Dickerson also set a new season high mark in rushing yards with 86. Caleb Gaddis was Dickerson's top target, picking up 101 receiving yards and a touchdown.
One reason for the win was Blue Ridge's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. In that department, Jacob Walker was the leader with two.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bells). They blew past Howe 44-6 at home on Friday. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 418th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 969th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Bryson Thompson and he. Thompson rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries while he rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 105.3 rushing yards per game.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Bells was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 505 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 175 rushing yards in 18 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Bells didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Preston Roachell, Easton Hartline, and Blake Reeves picked up one apiece.
Blue Ridge's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-1. As for Bells, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Blue Ridge has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 276.8 passing yards per game. Bells, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 287.9 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Blue Ridge was taken down by Bells 60-21 in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Can Blue Ridge avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
