The Stratford Spartans are facing off with cross-town rival Memorial Mustangs on Friday night at Tully Stadium. A much-anticipated match will be the final game of regular season play for both teams, however Memorial has more than just pride at stake.

The game is a must-win for the Mustangs if they plan to continue play into the post-season. With a little help from district opponent MacArthur, the playoff future will shine even brighter. But more importantly, they must come out victorious over the district-leading conference champions
 Stratford.

Stratford comes into the game with a high-powered offense that has accumulated more yards than any other team in their district with 3,427.

Spartan quarterback Andrew Luck (131-2077, 18 TDs) has led dominated the passing game in District 19-5A with over 2000 passing yards. With Luck’s dominant passing comes dominant receivers. Stratford’s John Sorsby (39-726, 7 TDs) is the leading receiver in the district. Also in the mix for the Spartans is A.J. Daggett (32-435, 4 TDs) who is tied for second in receptions in the district with Memorial’s Josh Hood (32-533, 8 TDs).

For Memorial, the combination of quarterbacks Cliff Vaughn (40-603 passing, 6 TDs) and Travis Blevins (24-333, 3 TDs) has worked quite well for the Mustangs. Hood and two-way athlete Jeremy Rathjen are the likely primary targets.

The Spartans have been a successful passing team, but that success stems from the ground threats from Stratford’s running back Brandon Carlin (95-530, 7 TDs) and the rushing capability of Luck.

Spartan workhorse Carlin has been out for a few games so look for Mike Luttrell (20-137, 2 TDs) or Tim Graves (24-85, 2 TDs) to make an appearance in the backfield rotation.

Memorial’s Ben Harper is third in the district in rushing, but Carlin and Luck are both in the top ten and combine for more yardage than Harper. Running back Peace Lim adds depth to the Mustangs rushing attack.

As far as defense, the Mustangs and Spartans are ranked two and three in the district respectively. Both teams have given up just over 2400 yards this season, however the Mustangs have held their opponents to under 500 yards in the air.

This should be interesting to see how Luck and company will fare against a strong pass defense by the Mustang. However, Memorial will need to keep Luck in the pocket and not allow him running room on the corners.