After each having a week off, the Northern Guilford Nighthawks and the Ragsdale Tigers will shake off the cobwebs and challenge one another at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Northern Guilford will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
Northern Guilford will bounce into Friday's game after beating Eastern Alamance, who they hadn't topped in nine consecutive meetings. Northern Guilford claimed a resounding 45-14 victory over Eastern Alamance at home. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 24-0.
Northern Guilford's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Dwight Hall, who rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.9 yards per carry, and Jaxson Kemp, who threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per attempt. Reggie King Jr was Kemp's top target, picking up 90 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Northern Guilford's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Kevin Willoughby and Bobby Bah. Northern Guilford got some further help from Parker Peters: he picked up a sack and made 13 total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Northern Guilford was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 268 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 187 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Ragsdale came up short against Oak Grove last Friday, falling 31-6. The Tigers gained 94 more yards on the day, but it was the Grizzlies that made the best use of them.
Northern Guilford's win bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Ragsdale, their loss was their first of the season and makes their record 2-1.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Northern Guilford has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 252.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Ragsdale struggles in that department as they've been averaging 188.3. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Northern Guilford couldn't quite finish off Ragsdale in their previous matchup back in September of 2023 and fell 22-20. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ragsdale's Fabian Diggs, who rushed for 180 yards. Now that Northern Guilford 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
