The Croatan Cougars will head out on the road to take on the Richlands Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Croatan's defense has only allowed 8.3 points per game this season, so Richlands' offense will have their work cut out for them.
Croatan made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Northside - Jacksonville, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Cougars fell just short of the Monarchs by a score of 30-28 on Friday. The defeat continues a trend for the Cougars in their meetings with the Monarchs: they've now lost three in a row.
Croatan might have lost, but man, Andrew Boucher was a machine: he rushed for 90 yards and three scores, and also picked up 91 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Richlands played a tough game last Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They had to suffer through a 43-3 loss at the hands of Northside - Jacksonville. The Wildcats were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 27-3.
Even if they lost, Richlands' defensive line still kept up the pressure with three sacks. Leading the way was Matthew Storjohann with two. He also set a new season-high mark in total tackles with seven.
Having lost for the first time this season, Croatan fell to 6-1. As for Richlands, their loss dropped their record down to 1-5.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Croatan has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 154 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Richlands, though, as they've been averaging only 25.2 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Croatan was taken down by Richlands 42-14 when the teams last played back in October of 2024. Thankfully for the Cougars, Caleb Simco (who rushed for 230 yards on only nine carries, and also threw for 117 yards on eight of 15 attempts) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
