Casteel has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge The Basha Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Friday, Casteel faced Hamilton in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Casteel's rough 37-17 defeat to Hamilton might stick with them for a while. The matchup was a 7-7 toss-up at halftime, but Casteel was blown out by Hamilton in the second.
Despite the loss, Casteel got a solid performance out of Jeremiah Newcombe, who rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Basha had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19 points), and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They secured a 47-42 W over Chandler. This was one game where the offenses had no trouble playing at a high level.
Demond Williams Jr. continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 126 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing for 235 yards and a touchdown while completing 78.9% of his passes. Williams Jr. hasn't dropped below two rushing touchdowns for three straight games. Basha also got help from Mason Arhin who showed off his sure hands for 132 receiving yards.
Another reason for the win was Basha's imposing defensive line, which managed to get into the backfield for 5.5 sacks. Chandler's QB won't forget Brody Jones anytime soon given Jones sacked him six times.
Casteel's loss was their third straight at home, which dropped their overall record down to 4-4. The slump could be explained by some tough opposition over that stretch, namely Hamilton, Perry, and Chandler. As for Basha, their victory bumped their record up to 7-1.
Friday's match might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Casteel has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 154.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Basha struggles in that department as they've been even better at 184.5 per game. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Casteel took a serious blow against Basha in their previous meeting back in November of 2022, falling 42-14. Can Casteel avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
