The Walnut Ridge Bobcats are taking a road trip to square off against the Manila Lions at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Walnut Ridge has three straight wins, Manila has seven straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Two weeks ago, Walnut Ridge strolled past Earle with points to spare, taking the game 44-30.
A big part of Walnut Ridge's victory came down to the chemistry between Jersie Cunningham and his top target Enrique Perez. Cunningham rushed for 153 yards while Perez rushed for 183 yards while picking up 9.6 yards per carry. Cunningham's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 120 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Walnut Ridge was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 368 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 175 rushing yards in 15 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Manila lost to East Poinsett County at home by a 32-13 margin on Friday.
Walnut Ridge's win bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Manila, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-3.
Everything came up roses for Walnut Ridge against Manila when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 45-6 victory. Does Walnut Ridge have another victory up their sleeve, or will Manila turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
