The Mainland Buccaneers will head out on the road to challenge the Raines Vikings at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Mainland has struggled recently with three defeats in a row, while Raines will arrive with three straight victories.
Last Friday, Mainland was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 7-2 to Flagler Palm Coast.
Meanwhile, Raines didn't have done well against Trinity Christian Academy recently (they were 0-4 in their previous four matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Everything went Raines' way against Trinity Christian Academy as Raines made off with a 48-23 win. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 21st, while the Conquerors are ranked 107th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Timothy Cole had a dynamite game for Raines, rushing for 80 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries, while also throwing for 192 yards and two touchdowns while completing 81% of his passes. Backing up that air attack was Ta'Darius Washington, who rushed for 123 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Raines' defense and their seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Geterius Brown and Micah Merritt who racked up five sacks between them. Merritt is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last four games he's played dating back to last season. Raines got some further help from King Massey: he forced a fumble and made eight total tackles (5.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Raines was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 203 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Trinity Christian Academy only rushed for 99.
Mainland's loss ended a four-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 0-3. As for Raines, their record now sits at 3-0.
Mainland took their victory against Raines in their previous meeting back in September of 2023 by a conclusive 26-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mainland since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
