Gladewater is on a six-game streak of home losses (dating back to last season), White Oak a six-game streak of away losses (dating back to last season), but someone's luck is about to change. The Gladewater Bears will take on the White Oak Roughnecks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Gladewater will be strutting in after a victory while White Oak will be coming in after a defeat.
Last Friday, Gladewater beat Atlanta 28-20. The victory was just what Gladewater needed coming off of a 42-21 defeat in their prior matchup.
Gladewater can attribute much of their success to Kyron Wilson, who rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and Carsin Cooper, who rushed for 202 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.8 yards per carry. Wilson hasn't dropped below two rushing touchdowns for three straight games.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Atlanta to a paltry 196 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Gladewater's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out three times before it was all said and done. Leading the way was Tristan Collins and his two sacks.
Meanwhile, White Oak took a serious blow against Sabine on Friday, falling 70-12. The last quarter was a mere formality, since the game's final score was reached by the end of the third quarter.
Gladewater's win bumped their record up to 2-7. As for White Oak, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-9.
Gladewater didn't have too much breathing room in their match against White Oak in their previous meeting back in November of 2022, but they still walked away with a 41-35 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was White Oak's Noah Carter, who gained 95 total yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Gladewater to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
