Palmetto Ridge and Gulf Coast are an even 5-5 against one another since September of 2014, but not for long. The Palmetto Ridge Bears will head out on the road to take on the Gulf Coast Sharks at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Palmetto Ridge's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Bonita Springs 20-0.
Palmetto Ridge was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 236 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Gulf Coast). They blew past Aubrey Rogers, posting a 58-7 win at home. Given the Sharks' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 196th, while the Patriots are ranked 435th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to John Ruggiero and he. Ruggiero rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries while he rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. His longest rush was for an impressive 65 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. The team also got some help courtesy of Chamar Rivers, who rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Palmetto Ridge's record is now 2-3. As for Gulf Coast, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 3-2.
Palmetto Ridge came up short against Gulf Coast in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 14-10. Can Palmetto Ridge avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
