The Laurel Spartans entered their tilt with the Bladensburg Mustangs with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Laurel narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Bladensburg 28-25. For Laurel, this counts as revenge for the 44-0 defeat Bladensburg walked away with the last time they faced one another back in October of 2016.
Laurel was led to victory by Takel Sanford and Nathan Watkins. Sanford rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, while Watkins gained 190 total yards and a touchdown. Edwin Rivas made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Another reason for the win was Laurel's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for six sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Myles Barrett and Ryyan Brown who racked up five sacks between them.
Despite the loss, Bladensburg still got an impressive performance from Marcus Ross, who rushed for 292 yards and three touchdowns on only 15 carries, and also picked up 131 receiving yards and a touchdown. Ross' longest rush was for an incredible 91 yards.
Laurel's win was their third straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 4-4. Admittedly, the team didn't face the toughest opposition across those games, namely Bladensburg, Northwestern, and High Point. As for Bladensburg, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-6.
Laurel will be playing at home against Blair at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Blair is coming into the contest on a six-game losing streak. As for Bladensburg, they will head out on the road to face off against Flowers at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Flowers presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Bladensburg in Maryland (Flowers is ranked 36th, while Bladensburg is ranked 177th).