The Walnut Ridge Bobcats had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 29.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They blew past Manila, posting a 45-6 win on the road. With Walnut Ridge ahead 30-6 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Leading Walnut Ridge to victory were Enrique Perez and Jersie Cunningham. Perez rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries, while Cunningham rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Cristian Gonzalez did his part by putting the 'special' in special teams, booting in three field goals.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Manila to a paltry 248 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Walnut Ridge's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out four times before it was all said and done. Manila's QB won't forget Dawson Ward anytime soon given Ward sacked him four times.
Walnut Ridge is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season. As for Manila, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-6.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Walnut Ridge will square off against Hoxie at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hoxie knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past five matchups -- so hopefully Walnut Ridge likes a good challenge. As for Manila, they will head out on the road to face off against Osceola at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Arkansas (Osceola is ranked 135th, while Manila is ranked 149th).
