Two dominant backs in J'Vien Adams and Connor Rushford are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Iowa Yellowjackets will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against the DeRidder Dragons at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Iowa's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They really took it to LaGrange for the full four quarters, racking up a 36-0 win. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Yellowjackets had established a 28 point advantage.
Adams continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 166 yards and a touchdown on only five carries. His longest rush was for an incredible 72 yards. Jonathan Walker Jr. was another key player, rushing for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Iowa was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 289 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
One reason for the win was Iowa's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for eight sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Ryan Arsement and Thomas Harris, who racked up four sacks between them.
Meanwhile, DeRidder got the win against Washington-Marion on Friday by a conclusive 42-22. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Dragons.
Rushford was his usual excellent self, rushing for 244 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per carry. Those 244 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Javaughn Fairley was another major influence, as he rushed for 51 yards and ran in a TD.
DeRidder is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 28.3 points. As for Iowa, they pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.
Thursday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Iowa has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 172.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like DeRidder struggles in that department as they've been averaging 247.2. It's looking like Thursday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Iowa ended up a good deal behind DeRidder when the teams last played back in October of 2020, losing 21-7. Can Iowa avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
