The Christopher Cougars will face off against the Branham Bruins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Christopher and Live Oak meet (four straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Thursday. The Cougars took a 35-17 bruising from the Acorns.
Although Christopher took the loss, they still got scores from Ethan Vernon and Ryan Holt.
Meanwhile, Branham was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They were four points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 31-27 heartbreaker at the hands of Leigh. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Michael Murphy and Blake Zanger. Zanger had a great game and rushed for 149 yards and one score. Meanwhile, Murphy was balling out in the loss, rushing for 178 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry.
Christopher's record now sits at 5-5. As for Branham, their record is now an identical 5-5.
Christopher couldn't quite get it done against Branham in their previous matchup back in October as they fell 26-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Murphy, who rushed for 160 yards and one TD while picking up 9.4 yards per carry, and also picked up 59 receiving yards and one score. Now that the Cougars 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
