The Schley County Wildcats will head out to square off against the Taylor County Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
Schley County's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They strolled past Macon County with points to spare, taking the game 17-0.
The critical scores for Schley County came from Cameron Hamsley and Caleb Renfroe.
Schley County's run defense was locked in: Macon County could only muster 2.1 yards per carry. The team can thank Renfroe for the heroic effort on defense: he. Schley County's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.13 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 5.77 on average over their last five games.
Schley County's defense didn't let Jakeyveon Parker, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Amir Nelson, Sterling Blanchard, and Weston Watson, who each picked up one sack apiece. Renfroe got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Taylor County). They blew past Marion County 54-0 last Friday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
Taylor County's win came from a few key players Schley County will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Leland Holder, who threw for 413 yards and three TDs while picking up 15.3 yards per attempt. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in rushing yards (24). Another player making a difference was Adrian Chatman, who rushed for 126 yards and a pair of scores on only nine carries.
Taylor County now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Schley County, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Schley County has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 163 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Taylor County has preferred to attack from the air: they average 269.2 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Schley County didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Taylor County when the teams last played back in October of 2024, but they still walked away with a 26-20 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.