The Taft Greyhounds are taking a road trip to face off against the Poth Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Taft is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against George West on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. The Greyhounds were dealt a 69-32 defeat at the hands of the Longhorns. While losing is never fun, the Greyhounds can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 841st, while the Longhorns are ranked 191st).
Meanwhile, Poth had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 39.8 points) and they went ahead and made it seven on Friday. They claimed a resounding 42-7 win over the Wolves. The Pirates might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six games by 35 points or more this season.
Poth's win came from a few key players Taft will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Payton Helford, who rushed for 161 yards and two scores while picking up 8.9 yards per carry. He has been hot, having posted two or more rushing touchdowns the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Antonio DeHoyos, who picked up 121 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Poth was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 263 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 155 rushing yards in seven consecutive contests.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Poth's defense and their three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Walker Stevens, Jaden Kotara, and Mason Delgado, who each picked up one sack apiece. Another thorn in Dilley's side was Stevens, who picked up a sack, forced one fumble, and made ten total tackles.
Taft's loss was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 4-6. As for Poth, their victory bumped their record up to 9-1.
Taft took a serious blow against Poth in their previous matchup back in November of 2022, falling 55-13. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Greyhounds were down 48-6.
