Two dominant backs in Cason Norman and Trey Rush are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Elida Tigers will host the Grady Bronchos at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Elida is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Roy/Mosquero, who was ranked 11th at the time (Elida was ranked ninth). The Tigers secured a 66-60 W over the Blue/Lady Blue on Friday. The Tigers haven't had any issues with the Blue/Lady Blue recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Elida didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Hayden Rubio and Hayden Wolf.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Grady). They breezed past Dora to the tune of 70-7 on Friday. The Bronchos might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four contests by 40 points or more this season.
Elida better focus on containing Trell Foote and Abram Ruvalcaba as the pair were huge in Grady's win. Foote rushed for 74 yards and one score, while Ruvalcaba threw for 24 yards and a pair of TDs. Those 74 rushing yards gave Foote a new career-high.
Grady's victory bumped their record up to 6-0. As for Elida, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.
Friday's matchup might be decided on the ground. Elida has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 297.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Grady struggles in that department as they've been averaging 180.7 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Elida might still be hurting after the 58-37 defeat they got from Grady when the teams last played back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rush, who rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries, and also picked up 63 receiving yards. Now that the Tigers know 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
