The Apollo Ridge Vikings will venture away from home to square off against the Steel Valley Ironmen at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Apollo Ridge is no doubt hoping to put an end to an eight-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Apollo Ridge is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 32 points last Saturday, they were much more limited against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Friday. They lost to the Chargers at home by a 26-7 margin. The matchup marked the Vikings' lowest-scoring match so far this season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Steel Valley). They blew past Shady Side Academy 49-0 on the road on Friday. The Ironmen might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by 20 points or more this season.
Steel Valley's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Donald Barksdale, who rushed for 259 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries. Barksdale's longest rush was for an incredible 94 yards. Da'Ron Barksdale was another key player, rushing for 127 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Steel Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 465 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in three consecutive contests.
Apollo Ridge's defeat dropped their record down to 0-6. As for Steel Valley, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.
Apollo Ridge was dealt a bruising 49-17 loss at the hands of Steel Valley in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Barksdale, who rushed for 202 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 8.8 yards per carry. Now that Apollo Ridge knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
