Two dominant backs in Mike Jones and Devin Brown are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Pike Road Patriots and the Russell County Warriors are set to duel on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Pike Road strolled past Stanhope Elmore with points to spare, taking the game 35-17. Given the Patriots' advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama football rankings (they are ranked 50th, while the Mustangs are ranked 135th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jones continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 101 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. The bulk of those rushing yards came from one huge play: a run that gained an incredible 58 yards. Another player making a difference was O'Mari Smith, who picked up 105 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Russell County had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.8 points) and they went ahead and made it five last Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 42-28 victory over the Mustangs.
It was another big night for Brown, who rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 10.1 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryson Riggins, who threw for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Russell County was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 201 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 94 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three contests they've averaged 204.7.
Pike Road is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season. As for Russell County, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-1.
We should be in store for an exciting game as both have no problem gaining yardage. Pike Road has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 350.4 total yards per game. However, it's not like Russell County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 370.6. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Everything came up roses for Pike Road against Russell County when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the team secured a 63-27 victory. Does Pike Road have another victory up their sleeve, or will Russell County turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
