Gulf Coast and Palmetto Ridge are an even 5-5 against one another since September of 2014, but not for long. The Gulf Coast Sharks will be playing in front of their home fans against the Palmetto Ridge Bears at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Gulf Coast is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 58-7 win over Aubrey Rogers at home. The victory was familiar territory for the Sharks who have now won three matchups in a row.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to John Ruggiero and he. Ruggiero rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries while he rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Chamar Rivers, who rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Gulf Coast was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 411 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, while Palmetto Ridge put up some points on Friday, the same can't be said for Bonita Springs. Palmetto Ridge was the clear victor by a 20-0 margin over Bonita Springs.
Gulf Coast now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Palmetto Ridge, their win bumped their record up to 2-3.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's match: Gulf Coast has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 353.8 total yards per game. It's a different story for Palmetto Ridge, though, as they've been averaging only 233.6. Will Gulf Coast be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will Palmetto Ridge flip the script?
Gulf Coast didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Palmetto Ridge when the teams last played back in September of 2023, but they still walked away with a 14-10 victory. Will Gulf Coast repeat their success, or does Palmetto Ridge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
