Two dominant backs in Damien Nevil and Drew Dixon are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Sports Leadership & Management Bulls will square off against the Virgin Valley Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Sports Leadership & Management sitting on four straight victories and Virgin Valley on three.
Sports Leadership & Management will head into Friday's matchup hoping to keep the good times rolling: they only won by two when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 25-point they dealt Democracy Prep Agassi Campus last Friday. Sports Leadership & Management was the clear victor by a 25-0 margin over Democracy Prep Agassi Campus. Considering the Bulls have won three contests by more than 24 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Nevil continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 154 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.3 yards per carry.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Sports Leadership & Management was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 224 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Democracy Prep Agassi Campus only rushed for 35.
Special teams also deserves some recognition, posting 11 points in total. All came courtesy of Grant Ploetz: he went 3-for-3 kicking field goals for nine points, and 2-for-2 kicking extra points for an additional two.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Virgin Valley). They blew past Boulder City 48-7 on the road on Saturday. With the Bulldogs ahead 35-0 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Virgin Valley found their leader in underclassman Dixon, who rushed for 145 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries, and also caught a touchdown. Dixon's longest rush was for an impressive 53 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Another player making a difference was Koby Perry, who threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns on only nine passes.
One reason for the win was Virgin Valley's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. In that department, Alex Valle was the leader with two. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Sports Leadership & Management now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Virgin Valley, their win bumped their record up to 6-1.
Thursday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Sports Leadership & Management has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 219.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Virgin Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 207.3. It's looking like Thursday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Sports Leadership & Management beat Virgin Valley 28-21 when the teams last played back in November of 2023. Will Sports Leadership & Management repeat their success, or does Virgin Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
