Two dominant backs in Mikell Tucker Mathis and Tony O'Banner are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Patrick Henry Academy Patriots will head out to square off against the Thomas Heyward Academy Rebels at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with three losses in a row, Patrick Henry Academy finally turned things around against Faith Christian on Friday. They walked away with a 29-20 win over the Knights. The score was all tied up 8-8 at the break, but the Patriots were the better team in the second half.
It was another big night for Mathis, who rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 102 yards and two touchdowns on only eight passes.
Another reason for the win was Patrick Henry Academy's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Leading the way was Trey Adkins with two.
Meanwhile, Thomas Heyward Academy never let their opponents score last Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Faith Christian , sneaking past 2-0. The two-point effort marked the Rebels' lowest-scoring match of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
The victory got Patrick Henry Academy back to even at 3-3. As for Thomas Heyward Academy, their win was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-1.
Patrick Henry Academy might still be hurting after the 40-19 defeat they got from Thomas Heyward Academy when the teams last played back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of O'Banner, who rushed for 289 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 11.6 yards per carry. Now that Patrick Henry Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
