Two dominant backs in Wes Burford and Joey Alcutt are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Oakdale Mustangs are taking a road trip to square off against the Central Catholic Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Oakdale is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last six games.
Oakdale is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They enjoyed a cozy 56-40 victory over Patterson on Friday.
It was another big night for Burford, who rushed for 381 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 14.7 yards per carry. Those 381 rushing yards gave him a new career-high.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Oakdale was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 586 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in 19 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Central Catholic, who bounced back after a loss on the road back in September. They blew past East Union, posting a 49-14 win at home. The contest marked the Raiders' most dominant victory of the season.
Carter Meeks had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries. His longest rush was for an impressive 60 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. The team also got some help courtesy of Chase Perino, who picked up 66 receiving yards and a touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Central Catholic's defense and their five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Titus Leota and Marquis Roberts, who racked up four sacks between them. Roberts also made four total tackles, which is notable because Central Catholic is 3-1 when he posts at least four total tackles, but 1-2 otherwise.
Oakdale pushed their record up to 6-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Central Catholic, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 4-3 record this season.
Oakdale might still be hurting after the 64-39 defeat they got from Central Catholic when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Thankfully for Oakdale, Tyler Wentworth (who threw for 380 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 16.5 yards per attempt, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
