The Central Red Devils will challenge the IMG Academy Ascenders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Central comes in on 18 and IMG Academy on four.
Central is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alabama's top teams: Enterprise, who was ranked 15th in their home state at the time (Central was ranked third). Central walked away with a 34-21 victory over Enterprise on Friday.
Tristan Williams was his usual excellent self, rushing for 224 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 111.4 rushing yards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrew Alford, who threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 265 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Meanwhile, IMG Academy's offense rose to the challenge against a Mustangs defense that boasted an average of only 16 points allowed on Friday. IMG Academy claimed a resounding 49-6 win over Mandarin at home. Considering the Ascenders have won three matchups by more than 20 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Central's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for IMG Academy, their win bumped their record up to 4-1.
Central lost to IMG Academy at home by a decisive 41-26 margin when the teams last played back in September of 2022. Thankfully for Central, Evan Dickens (who rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.2 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
