After each having a week off, the Lake Belton Broncos and the Rouse Raiders will shake off the cobwebs and challenge one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Rouse took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Lake Belton, who comes in off a win.
Two weeks ago, Lake Belton was able to grind out a solid win over Killeen, taking the game 49-42. Given the Broncos' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 140th, while the Kangaroos are ranked 513th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Eli Mascarenas and Zyien Dupree were among the main playmakers for Lake Belton as the former threw for 214 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 passes and the latter rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.3 yards per carry. The bulk of those rushing yards came from one huge play: a run that gained an incredible 56 yards. Davion Peters was in the mix too, providing Lake Belton with two touchdowns.
Lake Belton's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Xavier Wells and Adam Constancio. Constancio is also crushing it when it comes to total tackles: he's made at least six every time he's taken the field this season. Another thorn in Killeen's side was Garrett Roland, who picked up two sacks, made ten total tackles, and made ten total tackles.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Lake Belton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 325 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted was before the start of last season.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 38 points the game before, Rouse was a bit more limited in their match two weeks ago. They took a 17-6 hit to the loss column at the hands of Midway. The Raiders have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite the defeat, Rouse had strong showings from Leland Smit, who picked up 78 receiving yards and a touchdown, and Aubryn Davis, who rushed for 56 yards. What's more, Smit also racked up 19 rushing yards, the mosthe's had since back in October of 2023.
Lake Belton now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Rouse, they now have a losing record at 1-2.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Lake Belton has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 200 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Rouse has preferred to attack from the air: they average 302.7 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Lake Belton took their victory against Rouse in their previous matchup back in August of 2023 by a conclusive 34-10. In that game, Lake Belton amassed a halftime lead of 34-10, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
