The Neah Bay Red Devils will face off against the Liberty Bell Mountain Lions at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Neah Bay had no problem doing just that on Saturday. They blew past Liberty Christian 52-20 on the road. The win was nothing new for Neah Bay as they're now sitting on nine straight.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Jodell Wimberly and Charlie Branning. Wimberly had a great game and rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Branning was balling out in the loss, rushing for 122 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Liberty Bell faced Wellpinit in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Liberty Bell breezed by Wellpinit at home to the tune of 76-14. The victory was just business as usual for Liberty Bell, who after eight games remain undefeated this season.
Liberty Bell relied on the efforts of Remington Paz, who gained 206 total yards and three touchdowns, and Lucien Paz, who rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries. Paz hasn't dropped below three passing touchdowns for five straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Yolo Salas, who rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Another reason for the win was Liberty Bell's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Greyden Paz was especially locked on to Wellpinit's QB and sacked him twice.
Neah Bay's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.0 points per game. As for Liberty Bell, their win bumped their record up to 8-0.
Saturday's game might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Neah Bay has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 323 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Liberty Bell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 282.8 per game. It's looking like Saturday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other football content.
Neah Bay suffered a grim 50-24 defeat to Liberty Bell when the teams last played back in September. Can Neah Bay avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
