The Hickory Ridge Ragin' Bulls will head out on the road to challenge the Mooresville Blue Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hickory Ridge will come in still looking for their first win of the season.
Hickory Ridge is likely headed into the contest with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against A.L. Brown on Friday. The match between Hickory Ridge and A.L. Brown wasn't particularly close, with Hickory Ridge falling 31-14.
Despite the defeat, Hickory Ridge had strong showings from David Johnson, who rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown, and Joell Wooten, who picked up 109 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave Johnson a new career-high in rushing yards. Speaking of playmakers, who could forget Ezekiel Kelly, who went all the way with a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Mooresville on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Cox Mill out of the water with a 55-0 final score. Given the Blue Devils' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 28th, while the Chargers are ranked 152nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mooresville's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Malachi Gwyn, who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on only six carries. Another player making a difference was Brody Norman, who threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns on only 18 passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Mooresville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 255 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cox Mill only rushed for ten.
Mooresville's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Kamelo Little, AJ Graham, Darian Reid, and Reid picked up one apiece. Graham is also on a roll when it comes to interceptions, as he's now snagged at least one in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Hickory Ridge's loss dropped their record down to 0-5. As for Mooresville, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 3-1.
Hickory Ridge came up short against Mooresville when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 42-35. Can Hickory Ridge avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
