After each having a week off, the Stoneham Spartans and the Reading Memorial Rockets will shake off the cobwebs and hit the field against one another at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday.
Stoneham heads in on the heels of a playoff contest last Friday. They were dealt a 34-6 loss at the hands of Fairhaven. The Spartans' defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Reading Memorial, who bounced back after a loss on the road on November 7th. They walked away with a 42-33 victory over Beverly last Friday. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Rockets considering their 12-point performance the matchup before.
Stoneham better keep an eye on Dominic Pate. He was instrumental in Reading Memorial's win, rushing for 253 yards and five scores while picking up 9.4 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Pate is now averaging an impressive 100.9 rushing yards per game.
Reading Memorial was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 315 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in November of 2024.
Reading Memorial didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Pate and Rasheen Cousins. Pate also rushed for 253 rushing yards, which is notable because Reading Memorial is 4-1 when he posts at least 80 rushing yards, but 1-4 otherwise.
Reading Memorial is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a massive bump to their 5-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 35.4 points over those games. As for Stoneham, their loss dropped their record down to 7-3.
Everything came up roses for Stoneham against Reading Memorial when the teams last played back in November of 2024, as the team secured a 42-14 victory. Will the Spartans repeat their success, or do the Rockets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
