The Southbridge Pioneers will be staying on the road on Saturday to face off against the Gardner Wildcats at 6:00 p.m.
Last Saturday, Southbridge came up short against St. John Paul II and fell 24-16.
Meanwhile, Gardner put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They blew past Burncoat 46-14 on the road. With the Wildcats ahead 30-0 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Ayden Sparrow was his usual excellent self, rushing for 175 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries. His longest rush was for an impressive 67 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Alexavier Figueroa was another key signal caller, throwing for 138 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Gardner was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 278 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 172 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
One reason for the win was Gardner's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Leading the way was Shy'Ron Thompson with two.
Southbridge's defeat dropped their record down to 1-3. As for Gardner, their record now sits at 4-0.
Southbridge took a serious blow against Gardner in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 55-6. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Figueroa, who threw for 153 yards and three touchdowns on only six passes, and also rushed for 50 yards. Now that Southbridge knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
