Two dominant backs in Baylor Kelley and Braeden Ward are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Placer Hillmen's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Twelve Bridges Raging Rhinos at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Placer's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points every time they've taken the field this season.
Placer is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They took their game with ease, bagging a 42-2 victory over Escalon. Given the Hillmen's advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 131st, while the Cougars are ranked 284th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kelley was his usual excellent self, picking up 127 receiving yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 64 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries. Shaun Jones was in the mix as well, providing Placer with two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Twelve Bridges put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They claimed a resounding 63-7 win over Sierra. The Raging Rhinos pushed the score to 63-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Timberwolves cut but never quite recovered from.
Ward continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 203 yards and three touchdowns on only five carries. He is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last seven games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Connor Flaherty, who threw for 190 yards and two touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes.
Twelve Bridges was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 316 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 216 rushing yards in 11 consecutive matchups.
Twelve Bridges didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Bradley Kirby, Dylan Amos, and Matthew Marquez picked up one apiece.
Placer's record is now 9-2. As for Twelve Bridges, their record is now 11-0.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Placer has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 268.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Twelve Bridges struggles in that department as they've been averaging 309.6. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Placer lost to Twelve Bridges on the road by a decisive 51-34 margin when the teams last played back in October. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ward, who rushed for 229 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.5 yards per carry, and also picked up 55 receiving yards. Now that Placer knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
