Bartow has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will venture away from home to challenge the Lake Gibson Braves at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Bartow will be strutting in after a win while Lake Gibson will be coming in after a defeat.
Bartow gave up the first points on Monday, but they didn't let that get them down. They enjoyed a cozy 35-21 victory over Bloomingdale.
Bartow got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ka?Marion Thomas out in front who rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries, and also picked up 39 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave Thomas a new career-high in rushing yards. Another rusher making a difference was Avis Brown Jr., who gained 85 total yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Bartow was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 222 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 85.3 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three contests they've averaged 166.3.
Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn't the day for Lake Gibson's offense. They were beaten by Lakeland 63-0 on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Braves can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 114th, while the Dreadnaughts are ranked third).
Bartow pushed their record up to 4-2 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Lake Gibson, they now have a losing record at 2-3.
Bartow was dealt a bruising 35-7 loss at the hands of Lake Gibson in their previous matchup back in October of 2021. Thankfully for Bartow, Jaylon Glover (who rushed for 196 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
