After two games on the road, Westlake is heading back home. They will welcome the DeRidder Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Thursday, Westlake was fully in charge, breezing past Washington-Marion 42-14 on the road. Fans of the Rams have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Ryan Allen had an outrageously good game as he picked up 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. He torched the secondary when he pulled down a catch that went for 80 yards. Another player making a difference was Kevin Rideau Jr, who rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Westlake was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 343 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 221 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, DeRidder earned a 46-36 win over Newton on Friday. Given the Dragons' advantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 99th in Louisiana, while the Eagles are ranked 361st in Texas), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Connor Rushford was a one-man wrecking crew for DeRidder as he rushed for 188 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.1 yards per carry. The team also got some help courtesy of Reed Williams, who rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries.
Westlake's victory bumped their record up to 3-0. As for DeRidder, they now have a winning record of 2-1.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Westlake has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 280.7 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like DeRidder struggles in that department as they've been averaging 279.7. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Westlake was dealt a bruising 27-0 loss at the hands of DeRidder in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of DeRidder's Javaughn Fairley, who rushed for 269 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 12.2 yards per carry. Now that Westlake knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
