Carrollwood Day is 0-3 against Clearwater Central Catholic since October of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Carrollwood Day Patriots will head out on the road to face off against the Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders at 7:30 p.m. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Carrollwood Day sitting on five straight victories and Clearwater Central Catholic on 11.
Carrollwood Day had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They really took it to Northside Christian for the full four quarters, racking up a 40-0 win on the road. Given Carrollwood Day's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 24th, while Northside Christian is ranked 279th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Anthony Carrie, who rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.5 yards per carry. Carrie is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last three games he's played. Carrollwood Day also got help from Izaiah Williams who showed off his sure hands for 91 receiving yards.
Another reason for the win was Carrollwood Day's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. Northside Christian's QB won't forget Solomon Williams anytime soon given Williams sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, Clearwater Central Catholic stacked a seventh blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They blew past Indian Rocks Christian, posting a 42-14 win at home. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 35-0.
Clearwater Central Catholic's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Justin Stephens, who rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries, and Jershaun Newton, who threw for 115 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes.
Carrollwood Day's victory bumped their record up to 8-1. As for Clearwater Central Catholic, they pushed their record up to 11-0 with that win, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season.
Friday's matchup might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Carrollwood Day has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 186.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Clearwater Central Catholic struggles in that department as they've been even better at 225.4 per game. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Carrollwood Day and Clearwater Central Catholic were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in September, but Carrollwood Day came up empty-handed after a 28-27 defeat. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Clearwater Central Catholic's Newton, who rushed for 131 yards while picking up 8.2 yards per carry, and also threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns on only nine passes. Now that Carrollwood Day knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
