The Pebble Hills Spartans will square off against the Midland Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Pebble Hills is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 40 points per game this season.
Last Thursday, Pebble Hills ended up a good deal behind Franklin and lost 49-35. The Spartans have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite the defeat, Pebble Hills got top-tier performance from Zereian Quarles, who rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.3 yards per carry. Quarles' rushing production has been exceptional for a while as that marked his ninth straight game with at least 127 rushing yards. Jaden Gutierrez also helped out with an impressive 96 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Midland hadn't done well against Permian recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Midland had just enough and edged Permian out 21-18.
Midland's receiving core played a big role in the win, headlined by Stroman Bridges and Anthony Kolb. Bridges threw for 73 yards and two touchdowns while Kolb picked up 73 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Midland pushed their record up to 7-3 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 46.6 points per game. As for Pebble Hills, their loss dropped their record down to 5-5.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Pebble Hills has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 246.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Midland struggles in that department as they've been averaging 415.6. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Pebble Hills came up short against Midland in their previous meeting back in September, falling 28-23. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Midland's Cutter Lange, who rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries. Now that Pebble Hills knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
