Two dominant signal callers in Weston Nielsen and Cole Taylor are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Bastrop Bears will venture away from home to take on the Pflugerville Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Pflugerville is hoping to do what Elgin couldn't on Friday: put an end to Bastrop's winning streak, which now stands at five games. Bastrop was the clear victor by a 47-24 margin over Elgin.
Bastrop found their leader in sophomore Nielsen, who threw for 352 yards and five touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Nielsen is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last four games he's played. Jaelyn Gratten was Nielsen's top target, picking up 84 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Bastrop wouldn't let Elgin keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Bastrop can thank Val Regalado and Andy McCarus for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, while Pflugerville put up plenty of points on Friday, the same can't be said for Crockett. Pflugerville blew past Crockett 69-0. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 255th, while the Cougars are ranked 1122nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Pflugerville can attribute much of their success to Rhyder Miller, who gained 158 total yards and two touchdowns, and Taylor, who threw for 226 yards and five touchdowns while completing 88.2% of his passes. Another player making a difference was Quentin James, who gained 48 total yards and two touchdowns.
Pflugerville didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. Jaylen Anderson led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself.
Bastrop pushed their record up to 6-2 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. As for Pflugerville, their win bumped their record up to an identical 6-2.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Bastrop has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 302.9 passing yards per game. Pflugerville, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 151.5 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Bastrop didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Pflugerville in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, but they still walked away with a 48-42 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Taylor, who threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Bastrop still be able to contain Taylor? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
