Hiram hasn't had much luck against Cartersville recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Hiram Hornets will head out to square off against the Cartersville Hurricanes at 7:30 p.m. Hiram is looking to tack on another W to their five-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Hiram is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their contest at home on Friday with ease, bagging a 52-7 win over Allatoona. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 38-0.
Dashaun Williams continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 162 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries. Hiram is 4-2 when Williams posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise. Amari Lindley was in the mix too, providing Hiram with two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Hiram was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 328 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 163 rushing yards in 21 consecutive games dating back to last season.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Hiram's defense and their three sacks. Leading the way was Malachi Pharr with two.
Meanwhile, Cartersville put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They snuck past Cedartown with a 19-14 victory. The 19-point effort marked the Hurricanes' lowest-scoring match of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Cartersville's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brady Marchese, who picked up 132 receiving yards and a touchdown. Marchese was no stranger to the big play, connecting on a big catch that went for 51 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Nate Russell, who threw for 142 yards and a touchdown.
Cartersville wouldn't let Cedartown keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Jordyn Woods, Brayden Logan, and Elijah Peeks picked up one apiece. Logan also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 12.
Hiram has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 5-4 record this season. As for Cartersville, their record is now 9-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Hiram has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 283.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Cartersville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 171.2. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Hiram and Cartersville were almost perfectly matched up when the teams last played back in October of 2023, but Hiram suffered an agonizing 35-34 defeat. Thankfully for Hiram, Khristian Lando (who rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.8 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
