R-S Central is on a three-game streak of home wins, while East Rutherford is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Hilltoppers will welcome the Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
On Friday, R-S Central strolled past West Caldwell with points to spare, taking the game 36-22.
The critical scores for R-S Central came from CJ Sparks, Kaleb McEntyre, Mason Conard, Aaiyden Swepson, and Elmer Littlejohn.
R-S Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 228 rushing yards. They are 4-2 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
Meanwhile, East Rutherford really took it to East Burke for the full four quarters, racking up a 53-24 win. East Rutherford might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by 29 points or more this season.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Brandon Pinkerton and Ossie Burkeen. Pinkerton had a great game on Friday and rushed for 155 yards and three TDs while picking up 7.8 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Burkeen was balling out in the loss, rushing for 145 yards and one score.
East Rutherford's victory bumped their record up to 8-1. As for R-S Central, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
Friday's matchup might be decided on the ground. R-S Central has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 237 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like East Rutherford struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 256.3 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
R-S Central was dealt a bruising 57-26 defeat at the hands of East Rutherford when the teams last played back in November of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pinkerton, who rushed for 232 yards and four touchdowns. Now that the Hilltoppers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
