After each having a week off, the Montgomery Bears and the Dayton Broncos will shake off the cobwebs and take on one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Dayton is hoping to do what Elgin couldn't last Friday: put an end to Montgomery's winning streak (dating back to last season), which now stands at five games. Montgomery blew past Elgin 67-26 at home. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 214th, while the Wildcats are ranked 594th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Montgomery's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Damion Taylor, who rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown, and also picked up 43 receiving yards. Taylor got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 89 yards. Another rusher making a difference was Keldrid Ben, who rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Montgomery was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 399 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 203 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Montgomery wouldn't let Elgin keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Montgomery can thank Phillip Raglin and Braxden Havard for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, after only ten points in their last match, Dayton made sure to put some points up on the board against Porter last Friday. Dayton was the clear victor by a 42-20 margin over Porter. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Broncos have posted against the Spartans since November 7, 2014.
Dayton can attribute much of their success to Jaleel Kendrick, who rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns, and Jerry Prieto Jr, who threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Kendrick a new career-high in rushing yards.
Montgomery's victory bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Dayton, they now have a winning record of 2-1.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Montgomery has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 359 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Dayton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 160. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Montgomery came up short against Dayton when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 39-34. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Dayton's Denim Foster, who rushed for 74 yards and three touchdowns. Now that Montgomery 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
