The Gardendale Rockets will be playing at home against the Mountain Brook Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
Gardendale entered their tilt with Woodlawn with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Gardendale breezed by Woodlawn on the road to the tune of 59-20.
Gardendale relied on the efforts of Mac Beason, who threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns, and Boogie Harris iii, who rushed for 235 yards on only 15 carries. Beason hasn't dropped below three passing touchdowns for three straight games. Gardendale also got help from Carter Jenkins who showed off his sure hands for 86 receiving yards.
Another reason for the win was Gardendale's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Leading the way was Caiden Combs and his two sacks.
Meanwhile, Mountain Brook put the finishing touches on their fourth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Mortimer Jordan 54-14 at home. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 35-7.
Cole Gamble was his usual excellent self, rushing for 195 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 12.2 yards per carry. Gamble was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 50 yards.
Their wins bumped Gardendale to 3-5 and Mountain Brook to 6-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's matchup: Gardendale has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 182.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Mountain Brook struggles in that department as they've been averaging 152.9 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Gardendale won a match that couldn't have been any closer in their previous matchup back in October of 2022, slipping by Mountain Brook 29-28. Does Gardendale have another victory up their sleeve, or will Mountain Brook turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
