The Lorena Leopards will head out on the road to face off against the Franklin Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Lorena sitting on four straight wins and Franklin on nine (dating back to last season).
Last Thursday, Lorena earned a 27-17 victory over Rockdale. Given Lorena's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 222nd, while Rockdale is ranked 552nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Braylon Henry continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 236 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry. Henry's longest rush was for an incredible 76 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaden Roberts, who threw for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Franklin on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Troy out of the water with a 63-23 final score. With Franklin ahead 35-0 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Lorena's victory was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 6-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 40.0 points per game. As for Franklin, their victory on Friday bumped their record up to 7-0.
Things could have been worse for Lorena, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 49-35 loss to Franklin in their previous meeting back in October of 2022. Can Lorena avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
