The West Rusk Raiders will take on the Gladewater Bears at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Gladewater took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on West Rusk, who comes in off a win.
West Rusk took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 32-13 win over Diboll. The high-scoring effort was just what the Raiders needed considering they were shutout in their previous match.
Hunter Mccandless and Judson Dotson were among the main playmakers for West Rusk as the former rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.8 yards per carry and the latter rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. With that strong performance, Mccandless is now averaging an impressive 101.5 rushing yards per game.
Meanwhile, Gladewater took a blow against New Diana on Friday, falling 56-14. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 504th, while the Eagles are ranked 209th).
Despite their defeat, Gladewater saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Grafton Morgan, who rushed for 35 yards and two touchdowns, was perhaps the best of all.
Morgan wasn't the only one working in the rushing yards department: Gladewater was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 272 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 169 rushing yards in five consecutive contests dating back to last season.
West Rusk pushed their record up to 1-1 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for Gladewater, their loss dropped their record down to an identical 1-1.
West Rusk couldn't quite finish off Gladewater when the teams last played back in October of 2019 and fell 22-19. Can West Rusk avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
