After each having a week off, the Richlands Wildcats and the Swansboro Pirates will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Richlands has five straight victories, Swansboro has 14 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Friday, Richlands didn't have too much trouble with Princeton on the road as they won 41-24.
Caleb Simco was his usual excellent self, rushing for 52 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing for 178 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 passes. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in September of 2023. Tyler Clouatre was Simco's top target, picking up 114 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Swansboro took a blow against White Oak two weeks ago, falling 51-6. While losing is never fun, the Pirates can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 331st, while the Vikings are ranked 121st).
Richlands' win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for Swansboro, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-4.
Friday's match might be decided in the trenches. Richlands has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 205.8 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Swansboro, though, as they've been averaging only -4.5. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Richlands took their victory against Swansboro when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a conclusive 28-7. The rematch might be a little tougher for Richlands since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
