Two dominant backs in Gavin Paul and Grant Hall are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Middletown Blue Raiders will challenge the Big Spring Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Middletown focused on turnovers this week as the team gave up five on Saturday.
Middletown is headed into Friday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Saturday. They came up short against East Pennsboro, falling 42-17.
Middletown might have lost, but man, Paul was a machine: he rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Those 166 rushing yards gave Paul a new career-high.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Middletown was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 214 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, a win for Big Spring just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They had to suffer through a 70-27 loss at the hands of Susquehanna Township. The Bulldogs' loss signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Despite the defeat, Big Spring had strong showings from Hall, who gained 144 total yards and two touchdowns, and Keegan Barrick, who rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown on only five carries. Barrick's longest rush was for an incredible 70 yards.
Middletown's loss dropped their record down to 3-5. As for Big Spring, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 3-5.
Middletown lost to Big Spring on the road by a decisive 21-7 margin in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hall, who rushed for 191 yards and a touchdown while picking up 11.2 yards per carry. Now that Middletown 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
