The King's Academy Lions will head out on the road to square off against the Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Things were looking good for King's Academy after they put the first points on the board on Friday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They fell just short of Glades Central by a score of 22-19. While losing is never fun, the Lions can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 209th, while the Raiders are ranked 80th).
Meanwhile, after only 13 points in their last game, Archbishop McCarthy made sure to put some points up on the board against Calvary Christian Academy on Friday. The Mavericks blew past the Eagles, posting a 38-7 win. With the Mavericks ahead 31-0 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
King's Academy better keep an eye on Robert Kerns. He was instrumental in Archbishop McCarthy's win, throwing for 187 yards and two touchdowns while completing 86.7% of his passes, and also punching in one score on the ground. The dominant performance also gave Kerns a new career-high in passer rating (165.8). Ja'Kobi Williams did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 119 receiving yards.
Archbishop McCarthy's run defense was locked in: Calvary Christian Academy could only muster 0.9 yards per carry. The team can thank Olivier Belizaire for the heroic effort on defense: he. Archbishop McCarthy didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 7.1.
Archbishop McCarthy's defense didn't let the opposing QB, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for three sacks. The team can thank two different players for their defensive prowess: Samuel Boatwright and Belizaire, who each picked up one sack apiece.
Archbishop McCarthy is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 11.8 points on average over those games. As for King's Academy, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 5-4.
King's Academy couldn't quite finish off Archbishop McCarthy in their previous matchup back in November of 2024 and fell 31-28. Can the Lions avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
