The Mount Juliet Golden Bears will head out to face off against the Cookeville Cavaliers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated after four-games, but that won't be the case come Friday.
Mount Juliet's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They breezed by Warren County at home to the tune of 44-0. Given the Golden Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee football rankings (they are ranked 42nd, while the Pioneers & Lady Pioneers are ranked 228th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Cookeville over Lebanon in every quarter on their way to victory on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Cookeville blew Lebanon out of the water with a 27-0 final score. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Cavaliers had established a 20 point advantage.
Cookeville got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Blake Owen out in front who rushed for 202 yards and a touchdown while picking up 10.6 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave Owen a new career-high in rushing yards. Thomas Johnson was another key back, rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Cookeville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 340 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Mount Juliet's record now sits at 4-0. As for Cookeville, their record now sits at 4-0.
Mount Juliet took their victory against Cookeville when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a conclusive 38-14. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mount Juliet since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
