After flying high against Venus last Friday, Ponder came back down to earth. The Ponder Lions and the Tioga Bulldogs were almost perfectly matched up on Friday, but the Ponder Lions suffered a 43-42 defeat.
Ponder's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Tyson Price, who rushed for 163 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.1 yards per carry, and also threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Price a new career-high in rushing yards. Johnny Arellano was another key rusher, rushing for 141 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.4 yards per carry.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Ponder was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 320 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Tioga only rushed for 122.
Even if they lost, Ponder's defensive line still kept up the pressure with three sacks. Leading the way was Mason Lozano with two.
Ponder's defeat dropped their record down to 1-1. As for Tioga, they pushed their record up to 1-1 with that victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Ponder is headed away from home for the first time to face off against Gainesville at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Tioga, they will welcome Edgewood at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps