The Alief Taylor Lions will venture away from home to challenge the Alief Elsik Rams at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses apiece.
On Friday, Alief Taylor was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 28-24 to George Ranch.
Nick Kongolo
| 10/31/25 vs George Ranch | 2 |
| 10/09/25 @ Alief Hastings | 2 |
| 08/30/25 @ Klein Forest | 2 |
Alief Taylor might have lost, but man, Nick Kongolo was a machine: he rushed for 93 yards and a pair of scores, and also threw for 220 yards and two TDs. Kongolo also punched in two rushing touchdowns, which is notable because the Lions are 2-1 when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-5 otherwise. Alief Taylor also got a significant boost from Hameer Shokunle, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 129 yards.
Meanwhile, Alief Elsik lost to Fulshear on the road by a 51-33 margin on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Rams can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 587th, while the Chargers are ranked 199th).
Alief Taylor will need to focus on slowing down Ontario Washington, one of several Alief Elsik players who made an impact when they last played. He threw for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only five passes, and also rushed for 45 yards and one score. Another player making a difference was Horatio Washington, who picked up 109 receiving yards and a pair of TDs.
Alief Taylor's loss dropped their record down to 3-6. As for Alief Elsik, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-7.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. Alief Taylor has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 151.9 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Alief Elsik, though, as they've been averaging only 73.7 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Alief Taylor couldn't quite finish off Alief Elsik in their previous meeting back in November of 2024 and fell 30-27. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Rams' Kaden Mendenhall, who threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and also punched in one score on the ground. Now that the Lions know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
