The Pomeroy Pirates and the Liberty Christian Patriots are set to duel on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated after eight-games, but that won't be the case come Friday.
Pomeroy is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Dayton 84-30 on Friday. Given the Pirates' advantage in MaxPreps' Washington football rankings (they are ranked fifth, while the Bulldogs are ranked 33rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jett Slusser was his usual excellent self, rushing for 190 yards and five touchdowns on only ten carries, while also throwing for 78 yards and a touchdown on only five passes. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Kyzer Herres was another key player, gaining 163 total yards and four touchdowns.
Pomeroy was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 412 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 186 rushing yards in 16 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Liberty Christian's rock-solid defense showed up for the team's fifth consecutive shutout on Thursday. They never let DeSales onto the board and left with a 52-0 win. The Patriots might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by 28 points or more this season.
It was another big night for Charlie Branning, who rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in November of 2023. Ryker Wageman also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Liberty Christian didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. Wageman led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself.
Pomeroy's victory was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0. As for Liberty Christian, their record now sits at an identical 8-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Pomeroy has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 369.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Liberty Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 204.8. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Pomeroy came up short against Liberty Christian in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 38-26. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Branning, who rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries, and also picked up 160 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Now that Pomeroy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps