Two dominant signal callers in Weston Nielsen and Dylan Owens are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Bastrop Bears will be playing at home against the Elgin Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Bastrop is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Navarro on the road to the tune of 70-0 on Friday. Winning may never get old, but the Bears sure are getting used to it with their fourth in a row.
Bastrop's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Nielsen, who threw for 130 yards and three touchdowns on only nine passes, and also punched in a rushing score. Nielsen is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. Ladainian Merino was another key rusher, gaining 61 total yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Elgin, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They took their matchup at home on Friday with ease, bagging an 84-0 victory over Crockett. That looming 84-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Wildcats yet this season.
It was another big night for Owens, who rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries, and also threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes. He is becoming a predictor of Elgin's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 2-1 (and 1-3 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Jalen Owens, who picked up 90 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Elgin was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 247 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 170 rushing yards in four consecutive matches.
Elgin wouldn't let Crockett keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Elgin can thank Jose Quintanilla and Given Ukanda for forcing both of them.
Bastrop's win bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Elgin, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 3-4 record this season.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Bastrop has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 298.7 passing yards per game. Elgin, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 181 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Bastrop strolled past Elgin in their previous matchup back in October of 2021 by a score of 38-23. Will Bastrop repeat their success, or does Elgin have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
