The Basha Bears will be playing at home against the Casteel Colts at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Basha has six straight wins, Casteel has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Basha and Chandler (ranked 36 and 44 in the MaxPreps national rankings respectively) squared off in a high-profile matchup. Basha secured a 47-42 W over Chandler on Friday. This was one game where the offenses had no trouble playing at a high level.
Demond Williams Jr. continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 126 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing for 235 yards and a touchdown while completing 78.9% of his passes. Williams Jr. is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last three games he's played. Mason Arhin was another key contributor, picking up 132 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Another reason for the win was Basha's imposing defensive line, which managed to get into the backfield for 5.5 sacks. Leading the way was Brody Jones and his two sacks.
Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 7-7 at halftime, Casteel was not quite Hamilton's equal in the second half on Friday. Casteel ended up on the wrong side of a rough 37-17 walloping at the hands of Hamilton.
Jeremiah Newcombe put forth a good effort for the losing side as he rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown.
Basha's win was their sixth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 7-1. It's not like the team was facing easy opposition over that stretch either, as it included 6-2 Hamilton and 6-2 Brophy College Prep (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 64.6% over those games). As for Casteel, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's game: Basha has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 184.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Casteel struggles in that department as they've been averaging 154.8 per game. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Basha against Casteel when the teams last played back in November of 2022 as the team secured a 42-14 win. Will Basha repeat their success, or does Casteel have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
