Pinecrest has gone 3-0 against Lee County recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Pinecrest Patriots will head out to challenge the Lee County Yellow Jackets at 7:30 p.m. Pinecrest is looking to tack on another W to their eight-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Pinecrest will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up seven points two weeks ago, then bounced right back against Southern Lee on Friday. Pinecrest blew past Southern Lee, posting a 42-13 win on the road. Given the Patriots' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 69th, while the Cavaliers are ranked 224th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Zymire Spencer, who rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 127 rushing yards dating back to last season. Backing up that air attack was Chris Najm, who rushed for 84 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Pinecrest didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of William Miller and Spencer. Cole Harrison was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pinecrest was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 328 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Meanwhile, Lee County didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Hoke County last Saturday, but they still walked away with a 24-20 victory.
Jayden Hill and Rahshaun Brown were among the main playmakers for Lee County as the former picked up 151 receiving yards and three touchdowns and the latter rushed for 133 yards while picking up 7.4 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Hill is now averaging an impressive 103.7 receiving yards per game.
Lee County wouldn't let Hoke County keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Kaden Hill, Julian Best, and Cody Graham picked up one apiece. Lee County got some further help from Taj Mckendall: he made 12 total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Pinecrest's record is now 5-1. As for Lee County, their record is now 4-2.
Friday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Spencer and Brown. Spencer has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 134.2 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Brown has averaged 135.5 rushing yards per game this season.
Pinecrest was able to grind out a solid win over Lee County in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, winning 23-13. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Lee County's Bradley Brown Jr., who rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown, and also picked up 33 receiving yards. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Pinecrest to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
