DePaul Catholic has won five straight games at home (dating back to last season), while Delbarton has won five straight on the road also dating back to last season, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The DePaul Catholic Spartans will face off against the Delbarton Green Wave at 6:00 p.m. DePaul Catholic is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 38.4 points per game this season.
DePaul Catholic is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Jersey's top teams: St. Peter's Prep, who was ranked 15th in their home state at the time (DePaul Catholic was ranked second). DePaul Catholic breezed by St. Peter's Prep on the road to the tune of 54-21 on Thursday. Considering the Spartans have won four games by more than 19 points this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
DePaul Catholic's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Derek Zammit, who threw for 110 yards and four touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes, and Nolan James, who rushed for 148 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries. Elijah Burress also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Another reason for the win was DePaul Catholic's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Leading the way was Lorenzo Nieves with two. DePaul Catholic got some further help from Anthony Nittoli: he picked up 0.5 sacks and made ten total tackles (2.0 for loss) in addition to snagging an interception.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, DePaul Catholic was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 319 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, Delbarton's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They took a blow against Bergen Catholic, falling 42-13. The contest marked the Green Wave's lowest-scoring match so far this season.
DePaul Catholic's victory bumped their record up to 7-0. As for Delbarton, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-2.
Friday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: James and Brock Dandridge. James has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 158.7 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Dandridge has averaged 99.3 rushing yards per game this season.
DePaul Catholic was dealt a bruising 28-0 loss at the hands of Delbarton in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Will DePaul Catholic have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
