Dudley is on a 12-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Eastern Guilford is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. A feisty cat fight will be fought when Panthers faces off against the Eastern Guilford Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Eastern Guilford's offense is going to have their work cut out for them on Friday: Dudley hadn't allowed a single point the last three times they've hit the field. Dudley blew past Southern Guilford 48-0 on Friday. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 20th, while the Storm are ranked 263rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Dudley got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Brayden Jeffries out in front who rushed for 42 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 149 yards and a touchdown while completing 80% of his passes. CJ Neely was another key receiver, picking up 121 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Dudley wouldn't let Southern Guilford keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Dudley can thank Gerald Williamson and Robert McCollum for forcing both of them. McCollum has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 22 times he's played. Another thorn in Southern Guilford's side was Andrew Rogers, who picked up two sacks, made nine total tackles (4.0 for loss), and defended three passes.
Dudley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 279 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 230 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Eastern Guilford took their contest on Friday with ease, bagging a 49-8 win over Ben L. Smith. With the Wildcats ahead 21-0 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Caleb Creech continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 173 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.8 yards per carry. He is becoming a predictor of Eastern Guilford's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 5-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Javion Majette, who threw for 97 yards and three touchdowns on only seven passes.
Dudley's victory bumped their record up to 9-0. As for Eastern Guilford, their win bumped their record up to 6-3.
The upcoming match will be a clash of competing strengths. Dudley has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 294.8 passing yards per game. Eastern Guilford, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 194.7 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Dudley took their victory against Eastern Guilford in their previous meeting back in October of 2023 by a conclusive 35-10. Does Dudley have another victory up their sleeve, or will Eastern Guilford turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
