North Rockland is 1-6 against Carmel since September of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The North Rockland Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Carmel Rams at 7:00 p.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, North Rockland got themselves on the board against White Plains, but White Plains never followed suit. They blew past the Tigers 21-0. The win was just what North Rockland needed coming off of a 34-13 loss in their prior game.
North Rockland's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Gamie Sauveur, who rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown. North Rockland also got a significant boost from Jaquan Johnson, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 81 yards.
Meanwhile, Carmel had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17.7 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 43-27 victory over Yonkers Force [Gorton/Roosevelt/Yonkers Montessori Academy/Yonkers]. Carmel pushed the score to 43-12 by the end of the third, a deficit Yonkers Force [Gorton/Roosevelt/Yonkers Montessori Academy/Yonkers] cut but never quite recovered from.
Carmel's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Tristan Cash Werlau, who rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Christian Nunez, who threw for 149 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 passes.
North Rockland's win on Friday bumped their record up to 5-2. Carmel has been no stranger to the win column this season, as they've started out with wins in five of their first six matches, giving them a 5-1 record.
Friday's contest will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Sauveur and Cash Werlau. Sauveur has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages of 97.9 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Cash Werlau has averaged 127.5 rushing yards per game this season.
North Rockland took a serious blow against Carmel in their previous meeting back in November of 2022, falling 38-0. Can North Rockland avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
