The Cedar Shoals Jaguars will play host again on Friday to welcome the Walnut Grove Warriors, where kickoff is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Given that both suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Cedar Shoals is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They lost 41-19 to Morgan County on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 319th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 79th).
Despite the defeat, Cedar Shoals saw an underclassman step up: Keelin Mclendon threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns. A healthy portion of that aerial production (120 yards to be exact) went to Tybias Marques Lay.
Meanwhile, after some red-hot attacks on offense in their last three matches, Walnut Grove finally came back down to earth on Friday. They took a 14-10 hit to the loss column at the hands of Monroe Area. The loss continues a trend for the Warriors in their matchups with the Purple Hurricanes: they've now lost six in a row.
Despite their defeat, Walnut Grove saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Emadd Howard, who rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown, was perhaps the best of all. Howard's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his sixth straight game with at least 126 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Cedar Shoals' loss dropped their record down to 0-4. As for Walnut Grove, the defeat snapped their winning streak at four games dating back to last season and leaves them with a 3-1 record.
Cedar Shoals beat Walnut Grove 14-6 in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. Will Cedar Shoals repeat their success, or does Walnut Grove have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
