Cardinal Gibbons is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Leesville Road is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders will take on the Leesville Road Pride at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
You can't lose the match if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Cardinal Gibbons' strategy against Broughton on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Cardinal Gibbons blew Broughton out of the water with a 63-3 final score. With Cardinal Gibbons ahead 42-0 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Cardinal Gibbons to victory, but perhaps none more so than Gannon Jones, who threw for 164 yards and three touchdowns while completing 72.7% of his passes. Jones was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 50 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Amir Brown, who rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries.
Meanwhile, Leesville Road got themselves on the board against Athens Drive on Thursday, but Athens Drive never followed suit. They really took it to the Jaguars for the full four quarters, racking up a 64-0 win at home. Given Leesville Road's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 38th, while Athens Drive is ranked 154th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lyfe Shaw-stephens was the offensive standout of the contest as he rushed for 62 yards and three touchdowns on only five carries. Another player making a difference was Deiondre Goldston, who threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns while completing 78.3% of his passes.
Their wins bumped Cardinal Gibbons to 7-2 and Leesville Road to 8-1.
Everything came up roses for Cardinal Gibbons against Leesville Road in their previous matchup back in October of 2022 as the squad secured a 38-7 victory. Does Cardinal Gibbons have another victory up their sleeve, or will Leesville Road turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
