Temple Christian has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on The First Baptist Saints at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Temple Christian will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Texas Rankings (they are ranked 1092nd, while First Baptist is ranked 324th).
Last Friday, Temple Christian was beaten by Lubbock Christian 50-6. Temple Christian was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 43-6.
Meanwhile, First Baptist put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Bishop Gorman 61-0 at home. Fans of First Baptist have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season ended as a blowout.
First Baptist had a senior duo take command as Hunter McCoy threw for 433 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 19.7 yards per attempt and Alijah Cason gained 229 total yards and three touchdowns. McCoy hasn't dropped below three passing touchdowns for six straight games. Dylan Jones was another key contributor, picking up 87 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Another reason for the win was First Baptist's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Leading the way was Kore Thomas and his 2.5 sacks.
Temple Christian now has a losing record at 4-5. As for First Baptist, their victory was their fifth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 9-0.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's match: Temple Christian has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 218.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like First Baptist struggles in that department as they've been averaging 168.1 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything went Temple Christian's way against First Baptist in their previous matchup back in November of 2022 as Temple Christian made off with a 63-42 win. Will Temple Christian repeat their success, or does First Baptist have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
