Two dominant backs in Arthur Mcqueen and Mike Jones are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Stanhope Elmore Mustangs will be playing at home against the Pike Road Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 842 yards in their previous games.
Things were looking good for Stanhope Elmore after they put the first points on the board on Friday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They lost to Russell County at home by a 42-28 margin. While losing is never fun, the Mustangs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Alabama football rankings (they are ranked 125th, while the Warriors are ranked 49th).
Despite the defeat, Stanhope Elmore had strong showings from Mcqueen, who rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.5 yards per carry, and Damarrian Barnes, who rushed for 198 yards and a touchdown while picking up 11.0 yards per carry. Those 198 rushing yards gave Barnes a new career-high.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Stanhope Elmore was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 418 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 178 rushing yards in six consecutive games.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pike Road). They blew past Park Crossing 54-28 on Friday. With that win, the Patriots brought their scoring average up to 29.6 points per game.
Jones was his usual excellent self, rushing for 71 yards and four touchdowns.
Another reason for the win was Pike Road's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for six sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Amari Smith and Akeem Blackmon, who racked up five sacks between them.
Stanhope Elmore's loss dropped their record down to 3-3. As for Pike Road, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 4-3 record this season.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Stanhope Elmore has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 344 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Pike Road struggles in that department as they've been averaging 167.1. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Stanhope Elmore took a serious blow against Pike Road in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 52-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Jones, who rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.8 yards per carry. Now that Stanhope Elmore knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
