Pinecrest has gone 9-1 against Hoke County recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Patriots will welcome the Bucks at 7:30 p.m. The timing is sure in Pinecrest's favor as the team sits on three straight wins at home while Hoke County has been banged up by six consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.
Pinecrest is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed past Pine Forest to the tune of 57-30 on Friday. Given the Patriots' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 35th, while the Trojans are ranked 229th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.
Dayton Knight
| 10/17/25 @ Pine Forest | 98 |
| 10/10/25 vs Overhills | 70 |
| 08/29/25 @ Union Pines | 58 |
| 10/03/25 @ Jack Britt | 47 |
| 09/19/25 vs Scotland | 45 |
Pinecrest relied on the efforts of Najee Gillis, who threw for 269 yards and five touchdowns while completing 82.4% of his passes, and Dayton Knight, who rushed for 98 yards and three TDs. Those 98 rushing yards gave Knight a new career-high. Pinecrest's leading receiver RJ Williams was Gillis' top target yet again, picking up 86 receiving yards and a pair of scores.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Pinecrest was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 220 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 182 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Hoke County played a tough matchup on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were outmatched by Richmond Senior and fell 48-17.
Hoke County's defeat dropped their record down to 2-6. As for Pinecrest, their victory bumped their record up to 7-1.
Everything went Pinecrest's way against Hoke County when the teams last played back in October of 2024, as Pinecrest made off with a 46-26 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Bucks' Brandon Saunders, who threw for 249 yards and a pair of TDs, and also rushed for 33 yards and one touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for the Patriots to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
