Two dominant backs in Cameron Keller and Jalen Smith are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Van Buren Pointers will venture away from home to face off against the Marion Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Neither Van Buren nor Marion posted many points in their last games, so it might be the defenses that decide this one.
Van Buren is headed into Friday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Friday. They were beaten by Shiloh Christian 36-7. While losing is never fun, the Pointers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arkansas football rankings (they are ranked 41st, while the Saints are ranked ninth).
Despite a strong season so far, Marion has seen their luck take a bit of a downturn recently. They were outmatched by Benton at home and fell 55-10. That makes it the first time this season the Patriots have let down their home crowd.
Van Buren's defeat dropped their record down to 3-7. As for Marion, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 7-3.
Van Buren suffered a grim 55-34 defeat to Marion when the teams last played back in November of 2020. Thankfully for Van Buren, Brandon Mackey (who rushed for 348 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 18.3 yards per carry, and also caught a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
