On Friday, The Oak Grove Warriors faced the Northwest Rankin Cougars in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Oak Grove blew past Northwest Rankin 45-15 on the road. Considering Oak Grove has won three contests by more than 29 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Tajii Burkett was on fire: he rushed for 196 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries, and also picked up 45 receiving yards. Burkett really tore up the turf during one magnificent 74-yard run. Kylin Champagne was in the mix as well, providing Oak Grove with two touchdowns.
Oak Grove's win was their eighth straight on the road (dating back to last season), which bumped their overall record up to 8-1. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 36.3 points per game. As for Northwest Rankin, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-4.
Oak Grove will look to defend their home field on Friday against Pearl at 7:00 p.m. As for Northwest Rankin, they will head out on the road to face off against Petal at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Petal will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Mississippi Rankings (they are ranked 66th, while Northwest Rankin is ranked 20th).
