The Italy Gladiators are on the road again on Friday and play against the Tolar Rattlers at 3:00 p.m. on November 24th. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Italy extended their postseason success on Thursday against De Leon. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Bearcats 55-19 on the road. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Italy had established a 29 point advantage.
Italy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Gared Wood, who rushed for 204 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.3 yards per carry. Wood was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 60 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Dredrick Owens, who gained 204 total yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Tolar came tearing into Thursday's matchup with nine straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 44.8 points) and they left with even more momentum. They claimed a resounding 60-0 win over Cayuga on the road. Given Tolar's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 236th, while Cayuga is ranked 727th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Tolar had a senior duo take command as Garrison Nation rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries and Isaac Blessing threw for 109 yards and two touchdowns on only ten passes. Another player making a difference was Peyton Brown, who rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns.
Italy has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season. As for Tolar, their victory bumped their record up to 11-1.
