The Rye Country Day Wildcats will face off against the Poly Prep Country Day Blue Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Rye Country Day will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Last Friday, Rye Country Day was fully in charge, breezing past Morristown-Beard 40-10 at home. Given Rye Country Day's advantage in MaxPreps's football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 39th in New York, while Morristown-Beard is ranked 276th in New Jersey), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Rye Country Day's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Patrick Leonard, who rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries, and Cole Denson, who rushed for 170 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry. Denson hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for four straight games.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Poly Prep Country Day had no problem doing just that on Friday. They walked away with a 21-14 win over Riverdale Country. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Poly Prep Country Day.
Poly Prep Country Day can attribute much of their success to Trent Winston, who rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.8 yards per carry, and Marco Smith, who rushed for 169 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries. Winston's longest rush was for an incredible 76 yards.
Rye Country Day's victory bumped their record up to 6-2. As for Poly Prep Country Day, they have yet to lose a game at home this season, leaving them with a 5-3 record.
Friday's game might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Rye Country Day has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 178 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Poly Prep Country Day struggles in that department as they've been even better at 238.4 per game. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
Rye Country Day came up short against Poly Prep Country Day when the teams last played back in October, falling 14-6. Can Rye Country Day avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
