The Coolidge Bears will take on the Florence Gophers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Coolidge has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while Florence will arrive with five straight wins.
Coolidge's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Combs last Friday. They took a blow against the Coyotes, falling 57-0. That makes it the first time this season the Bears have let down their home crowd.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Florence). They simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat Rio Rico 43-0 at home. The Gophers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three contests by 21 points or more this season.
Logan Stenson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 94 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries, while also throwing for 138 yards and a touchdown on only 13 passes. His longest rush was for an impressive 68 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Malik Smith was another key player, rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Florence was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 347 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
Florence's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged six passes before it was all said and done. Kj Watts led the group effort, picking up three of those interceptions all by himself.
Coolidge's loss dropped their record down to 0-4. As for Florence, their victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0.
Coolidge ended up a good deal behind Florence when the teams last played back in September of 2023, losing 30-12. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Smith, who rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns. Now that Coolidge 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
