After two games on the road, Ligonier Valley is heading back home. They will welcome the Steel Valley Ironmen at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. That contest will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: John Jablunovsky and Donald Barksdale.
Ligonier Valley's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against South Park on Friday. They took a blow against the Eagles, falling 33-0. While losing is never fun, the Rams can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 401st, while the Eagles are ranked 142nd).
Meanwhile, Steel Valley had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 42.7 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They blew past the Chargers, posting a 42-7 victory at home. Considering the Ironmen have won five matches by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
It was another big night for Barksdale, who rushed for 153 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry. He also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, making two total tackles and defending two passes. Da'Ron Barksdale was another key player, rushing for 69 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Steel Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 273 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 222 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.
One reason for the win was Steel Valley's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. It was truly a group effort as Amir Randall, Rasaun Hough, and Ameer Berry picked up two apiece.
Ligonier Valley has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season. As for Steel Valley, they pushed their record up to 5-3 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.
Ligonier Valley was dealt a bruising 35-0 defeat at the hands of Steel Valley in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Barksdale, who rushed for 221 yards and five touchdowns on only 14 carries. Now that Ligonier Valley 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
