The Black River Pirates will head out on the road to face off against the Columbus Grove Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Black River fell on hard times earlier this season, but after back-to-back victories it seems like their luck might finally be changing. They strolled past Western Reserve with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 24-6. 24 seems to be a good number for Black River as the team scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
Meanwhile, Columbus Grove entered their tilt with Lakota with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. Columbus Grove blew past Lakota 42-17. The result was nothing new for Columbus Grove, who have now won five matchups by 25 points or more so far this season.
Columbus Grove's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Trenton Barraza, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries. Barraza is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last seven games he's played. Kyle Hopkins also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Black River has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for Columbus Grove, their victory was their 11th straight at home (dating back to last season), bumping their overall record up to 9-2.
Black River suffered a grim 42-17 defeat to Columbus Grove in their previous matchup back in October of 2022. Can Black River avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
