The Perquimans Pirates will challenge the Martin County Gators at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Perquimans is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 32.4 points per game this season.
Last Friday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Perquimans beat Bertie 32-26.
A big part of Perquimans' victory came down to the chemistry between Braylon Knapp and his top target Benjamin Brown. Knapp threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns on only 19 passes while Brown picked up 151 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The dominant performance also gave Brown a new career-high in rushing yards. A healthy portion of that aerial production (100 yards to be exact) also went to Maddux Thach.
One reason for the win was Perquimans' imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. In that department, Steven Elliott was the leader with three.
Meanwhile, after a string of six wins, Martin County's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They took a blow against Tarboro, falling 56-21. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Gators have suffered since October 12, 2023.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Jah Sheppard and Kamerin McDowell-Moore. McDowell-Moore had a great game and rushed for 226 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 14.1 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Sheppard was balling out in the loss, rushing for 61 yards and two touchdowns.
Perquimans' win bumped their record up to 6-2. As for Martin County, their loss dropped their record down to an identical 6-2.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Perquimans has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 279.1 passing yards per game. Martin County, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 192.6 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Perquimans was dealt a bruising 42-13 defeat at the hands of Martin County when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Will Perquimans have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
