Two dominant backs in Benjamin Young Iii and Austin Gaertner are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. David's Warriors and the Faith Christian Patriots are set to duel on Friday. St. David's is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 34 points per game this season.
St. David's is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of North Carolina's top teams: Rocky Mount Academy, who was ranked tenth in their home state at the time (St. David's was ranked seventh). St. David's came up short against Rocky Mount Academy two weeks ago, falling 35-12. The game marked the Warriors' lowest-scoring match so far this season.
Despite the loss, St. David's got top-tier performance from Young Iii, who rushed for 295 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.4 yards per carry. Young Iii's longest rush was for an incredible 85 yards.
St. David's wouldn't let Rocky Mount Academy keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force four fumbles. Young Iii led the group effort, picking up two of those forced fumbles all by himself. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Even though they lost, St. David's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 288 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 186 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Faith Christian never let their opponents score on Thursday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Father Capodanno 64-0 at home. Considering the Patriots have won four contests by more than 27 points this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Blayde Hinton was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 47 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 123 yards and three touchdowns while completing 90% of his passes. Another player making a difference was Gaertner, who rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown on only six carries.
Faith Christian didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Vincent Wilson, Aiden Parks, and Isaac Suber picked up one apiece.
St. David's has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-3 record this season. As for Faith Christian, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. St. David's has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 239.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Faith Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 185.3. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
St. David's was dealt a bruising 50-6 defeat at the hands of Faith Christian in their previous matchup back in September of 2021. Thankfully for St. David's, Deanthony Joyner (who rushed for 207 yards and four touchdowns on only eight carries) 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
