Blanche Ely was the 33-26 winner over Piper when they last played one another back in October of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. The Blanche Ely Tigers and the Piper Bengals were almost perfectly matched up on Friday, but the Blanche Ely Tigers suffered a 21-20 loss. The Tigers gained 250 more yards on the day, but it was the Bengals that made the best use of them.
Blanche Ely's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Shawn Paschall, who rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries. Elijah Gonzales handled things on the ground, rushing for 88 yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Blanche Ely was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 273 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Cristian Mata was the offensive standout of the matchup as he rushed for 37 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 80 yards and a touchdown while completing 87.5% of his passes.
This is the second loss in a row for Blanche Ely and nudges their season record down to 3-2. As for Piper, the win for them keeps them at an undefeated 5-0.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Blanche Ely will venture away from home to square off against Deerfield Beach at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Piper, they will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Boyd Anderson at 7:00 p.m. on October 4th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
