Stratford is 2-7 against Bunnell since November of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. After each having a week off, the two teams will shake off the rust and duke it out at 10:00 a.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Thursday.
Stratford is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. Everything went their way against New Milford last Friday as they made off with a 50-28 victory. Considering the Red Devils' offense had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.
Blake Merfalen
| 11/14/25 @ New Milford | 152.1 |
| 09/12/25 vs Cheney Tech | 141.4 |
| 09/19/25 vs Bethel | 122 |
| 10/24/25 vs Weston | 65 |
| 09/26/25 @ Notre Dame Prep | 62.8 |
| + 3 more games |
Blake Merfalen was a one-man wrecking crew as he threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 13.0 yards per attempt, and also punched in one score on the ground. His passing game has become a key predictor of Stratford's success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 1-5 otherwise. The Red Devils' leading receiver Julien Polanco was Merfalen's top target yet again, picking up 90 receiving yards and a pair of TDs.
Stratford's run defense was locked in: New Milford could only muster 3.5 yards per carry. The team can thank Jayden Gaskin for the heroic effort on defense: he. Stratford didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 8.8.
Stratford didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jalen Matthew and Jason Booker.
Meanwhile, Bunnell came tearing into last Friday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 34.7 points), and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victors by a 28-7 margin over the Rebels. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Bulldogs just coasted through the last quarter.
Bunnell's record is now 7-2. As for Stratford, the win was their first on the road , bumping their record up to 4-5.
Stratford took a serious blow against Bunnell in their previous meeting back in November of 2024, falling 47-6. Can the Red Devils avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
