The Walnut Ridge Bobcats will face off against the Junction City Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the pair posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
With a playoff game on the line, Walnut Ridge rose to the challenge on Friday. They took down Quitman 54-35. The win was just what Walnut Ridge needed coming off of a 41-20 defeat in their prior matchup.
Walnut Ridge's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Enrique Perez, who rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry. Robbie Tate was another key contributor, rushing for 147 yards and three touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Walnut Ridge's defensive line and their six sacks. River Hancock was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up two sacks himself.
Meanwhile, Junction City stacked a sixth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They blew past Manila 52-6 at home. The win was familiar territory for Junction City who now have five in a row.
Montra Hankton was on fire: he rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries, and also threw for 160 yards and three touchdowns on only ten passes. The team also got some help courtesy of Dominique Grimes, who picked up 88 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Walnut Ridge has yet to lose a match at home this season, leaving them with a 8-3 record. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 41.6 points per game. As for Junction City, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.
Walnut Ridge took a serious blow against Junction City when the teams last played back in November of 2014, falling 62-8. Can Walnut Ridge avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
