The McGregor Bulldogs will head out to take on the Little River Academy Bumblebees at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. McGregor has given up an average of 46.4 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
McGregor is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 35 points last Friday, they were much more limited against Franklin on Friday. They took a blow against the Lions, falling 54-13. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 844th, while the Lions are ranked 109th).
Despite their defeat, McGregor saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Bubba Zacharias, who threw for 178 yards and a pair of touchdowns, was perhaps the best of all.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Little River Academy, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They breezed past Troy to the tune of 49-7 on Friday. That 42 point margin sets a new team best for the Bumblebees this season.
Little River Academy's win came from a few key players McGregor will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Brian Grissom, who rushed for 310 yards and two TDs while picking up 18.2 yards per carry, and also caught one score. He has become a key player for Little River Academy: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 0-3 otherwise. Another signal caller making a difference was Tyler Hoffman, who threw for 150 yards and three touchdowns.
Little River Academy was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 400 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.
Little River Academy has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 4-4 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 41.6 points over those games. As for McGregor, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-7.
McGregor was taken down by Little River Academy 57-27 in their previous matchup back in November of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Grissom, who rushed for 72 yards and a pair of scores on only seven carries. Now that the Bulldogs know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
