The Clay Blue Devils are taking a road trip to take on the Orange Park Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Clay came into their game on Friday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They came up short against Columbia, falling 21-0. The matchup marked the first time this season in which the Blue Devils were not able to get on the board.
Even if they lost, Clay's defense still kept up the pressure with 4.5 sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Jay'Shawn McCloud, Adam Whigham, and Aj Bivins, who each picked up one sack apiece.
Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 7-7 at halftime, Orange Park was not quite Beachside's equal in the second half on Friday. They fell just short of the Barracudas by a score of 31-28. While losing is never fun, the Raiders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 235th, while the Barracudas are ranked 103rd).
Clay will have to contain Gabe Taylor as he made an impact in Orange Park's last game. He threw for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and also punched in one score on the ground. A healthy portion of Taylor's aerial production (88 yards to be exact) went to Xzavier Jones.
Orange Park has been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 3-6 record this season. As for Clay, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.
Clay might still be hurting after the 33-7 defeat they got from Orange Park when the teams last played back in November of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Taylor, who rushed for 32 yards and a pair of TDs, and also threw for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Now that the Blue Devils know 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
