Two dominant backs in Omar Mabson and Tristan Williams are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. After each having a week off, the Auburn Tigers and the Central Red Devils will dust off their jerseys to take on one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated (Auburn has five wins , while Central has 18 dating back to last season).
Auburn's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed last Friday. They blew past JAG 47-0 at home. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama football rankings (they are ranked first, while the Jaguars are ranked 75th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Auburn's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Mabson led the charge by rushing for 127 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. Mabson's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his 13th straight game with at least 100 rushing yards dating back to last season. Peyton Plott was in the mix too, providing Auburn with two touchdowns.
Auburn's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Bj Mcghee and Landon Raughton.
Meanwhile, Central earned a 34-21 victory over Enterprise last Friday.
Williams was his usual excellent self, rushing for 224 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 111.4 rushing yards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrew Alford, who threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 265 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Auburn's win was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for Central, their record is now 5-0.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Auburn has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 261.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 198.4. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Auburn was taken down by Central 49-21 in their previous matchup back in November of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Alford, who threw for 429 yards and four touchdowns while completing 78.1% of his passes. Now that Auburn knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
