The North Sunflower Academy Rebels will take on the Newton County Academy Generals at 7:59 p.m. on Friday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
North Sunflower Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Marvell Academy, who was ranked 21st at the time (North Sunflower Academy was ranked 23rd). Everything went North Sunflower Academy's way against Marvell Academy two weeks ago as North Sunflower Academy made off with a 32-8 victory. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Rebels as it put an end to their six-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Newton County Academy had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30.7 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They blew past the Warriors 50-22 on the road. The Generals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four contests by 28 points or more this season.
Newton County Academy got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Ty Thrash out in front who rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries, and also threw for 118 yards and three touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes. Newton County Academy is undefeated when Thrash posts three or more passing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise. Cooper Savell was another key rusher, gaining 164 total yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Newton County Academy was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 257 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 152 rushing yards in 22 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Newton County Academy didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Logan Usry and Savell. Usry is also crushing it when it comes to total tackles: he's made at least six every time he's taken the field this season.
North Sunflower Academy's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-5. As for Newton County Academy, they pushed their record up to 6-2 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season.
North Sunflower Academy took a serious blow against Newton County Academy in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, falling 42-12. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point North Sunflower Academy was down 35-6.
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