The J.L. Mann Patriots will take on the Daniel Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
J.L. Mann is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Carolina's top teams: Gaffney, who was ranked sixth in their home state at the time (J.L. Mann was ranked eighth). J.L. Mann fell just short of Gaffney by a score of 42-40 on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Patriots have suffered since September 15, 2023.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was McLeod Darnell, who threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns. Keyshun Henderson was Darnell's top target, picking up 99 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Daniel came tearing into Thursday's game with 16 straight wins dating back to last season (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 32.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They took down the Knights 52-36. Given the Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina football rankings (they are ranked ninth, while the Knights are ranked 44th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Daniel to victory, but perhaps none more so than Grayson Clary, who threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.8 yards per attempt, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Jason Bish was another key player, picking up 134 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Daniel was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 229 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 187 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
J.L. Mann's loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 1-1. As for Daniel, they pushed their record up to 2-0 with that victory, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
