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The Florence Gophers will head out to take on the Shadow Mountain Matadors at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Florence will be strutting in after a victory while Shadow Mountain will be coming in after a loss.
Florence not only won last Friday, but they posted their biggest win since September 27, 2024 (when they won 68-0). They were the clear victors by a 27-2 margin over Coolidge. The win continues a trend for the Gophers in their matchups with the Bears: they've now won four in a row.
Florence got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Dayron Neal out in front who rushed for 187 yards and one TD on only ten carries. Neal's longest rush was for an impressive 58 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. The team also got some help courtesy of Brody Ramirez, who rushed for 57 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only six carries.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Florence was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 452 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 72 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last five matchups they've averaged 208.
Florence didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Wyatt Stenson and Keantum Greeley. Another thorn in Coolidge's side was Zayden Cundiff, who made 14 total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Shadow Mountain came up short against Dysart on Friday, falling 40-14. The Matadors were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 34-14.
This is the second loss in a row for Shadow Mountain and nudges their season record down to 3-4. As for Florence, their win was their first in the region, bumping their region record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 2-4.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
