Croatan has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge The Southern Nash Firebirds at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Croatan will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps North Carolina Rankings (they are ranked 268th, while Southern Nash is ranked 45th).
Last Friday, Croatan came up short against West Carteret and fell 30-19.
Despite the defeat, Croatan had strong showings from Coleman Davis, who rushed for 156 yards while picking up 7.4 yards per carry, and Max Cardona, who picked up 69 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Davis was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 52 yards.
Meanwhile, Southern Nash had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 29.8 points), and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They claimed a resounding 45-0 win over Franklinton at home. Considering Southern Nash has won seven matches by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Tylik Mitchell continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 89 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. John Tolleson was in the mix as well, providing Southern Nash with two touchdowns.
West Carteret's win bumped their season record to 6-4 while Croatan's loss dropped theirs to 5-5.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Croatan has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 187 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Southern Nash struggles in that department as they've been even better at 322.4 per game. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
