The Grafton Clippers will head out to square off against the Bruton Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Grafton will head into Friday's matchup on the come-up: they were handed a 20-point defeat in their previous outing, but they didn't let that bad energy affect their game against New Kent on Friday. Grafton came out on top in a nail-biter against New Kent , sneaking past 9-6. The victory was some much needed relief for the Clippers as it spelled an end to their four-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Bruton put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They took their contest on the road with ease, bagging a 42-12 win over Northumberland. Fans of the Panthers have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Peter Henderson went supernova for Bruton, rushing for 209 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.7 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave Henderson a new career-high in rushing yards. Ashton Bell was in the mix as well, providing Bruton with two touchdowns.
Bruton's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Brandon Freeman and Paul Mutter. With that strong performance, Mutter is now averaging an impressive 5.2 total tackles per game. Bruton got some further help from Rumante Todd: he picked up a sack and made seven total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Bruton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 296 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Grafton's first victory this season bumped their record up to 1-3. As for Bruton, their win bumped their record up to 4-0.
Grafton was able to grind out a solid victory over Bruton in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, winning 21-10. The rematch might be a little tougher for Grafton since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
