The Melbourne Bearkatz will face off against the Quitman Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Melbourne's defense has only allowed 12.2 points per game this season, so Quitman's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Melbourne's usually-dominant defense will be looking to make up for Friday's struggle, when Salem offense got past them. Melbourne was outmatched by Salem at home and fell 36-3. That makes it the first time this season the Bearkatz have let down their home crowd.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Quitman, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They were the clear victor by a 40-14 margin over Yellville-Summit on Friday. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 32-8.
It was another big night for Jordon Moore-Payne, who rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.7 yards per carry, and also threw for 164 yards and three touchdowns while completing 84.6% of his passes. He didn't just play on offense: he also forced two fumbles and made 15 total tackles. Jamare Lovelace was Moore-Payne's top target, picking up 75 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Quitman wouldn't let Yellville-Summit keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Moore-Payne was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance. Another thorn in Yellville-Summit's side was Braiden Riley, who picked up two sacks and made six total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Quitman was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 242 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Having lost for the first time this season, Melbourne fell to 3-1. As for Quitman, the win got them back to even at 2-2.
Melbourne took a serious blow against Quitman when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 55-20. Can Melbourne 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
