The Petersburg Crimson Wave will venture away from home to face off against the Matoaca Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Petersburg has struggled recently with four losses in a row, while Matoaca will arrive with seven straight wins.
Petersburg is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Dinwiddie on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Petersburg took a blow against Dinwiddie, falling 56-12. While losing is never fun, the Crimson Wave can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia football rankings (they are ranked 161st, while the Generals are ranked tenth).
Meanwhile, Matoaca hadn't done well against Hopewell recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Matoaca claimed a resounding 42-9 victory over Hopewell at home. The result was nothing new for the Warriors, who have now won five matches by 28 points or more so far this season.
A big part of Matoaca's win came down to the chemistry between Bryce Yates and his top target Dillon Newton-Short. Yates threw for 209 yards and three touchdowns while Newton-Short picked up 118 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Matoaca also got a significant boost from Trevion Mills, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 96 yards.
One reason for the win was Matoaca's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Leading the way was Aaron Simmons with two. Another thorn in Hopewell's side was Victor Afolabi, who picked up a sack and made seven total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Petersburg's defeat dropped their record down to 2-5. As for Matoaca, they pushed their record up to 7-0 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season.
Petersburg took a serious blow against Matoaca when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 45-0. Can Petersburg 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
