Football Preview: Arlington Heights Yellowjackets vs. Richland Royals
Two dominant signal callers in Kaeden Grant and Drew Kates are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Arlington Heights Yellowjackets will be playing at home against the Richland Royals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Arlington Heights is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 42.4 points per game this season.
Richland is hoping to do what Paschal couldn't on Friday: put an end to Arlington Heights' winning streak, which now stands at three games. Arlington Heights snuck past Paschal with a 28-23 win.
Arlington Heights found their leader in sophomore Carson James, who rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.4 yards per carry. James' rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 133 rushing yards. Grant was another key player, rushing for 68 yards and two touchdowns.
Arlington Heights was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 273 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 258 rushing yards in three consecutive matches.
Richland's found some homefield redemption this week after a overtime loss to Aledo on Friday. Richland took their game with ease, bagging a 58-28 victory over Azle. The result was nothing new for the Royals, who have now won eight matchups by 20 points or more so far this season.
Kates continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 412 yards and six touchdowns while completing 78.3% of his passes, and also punching in a touchdown on the ground. Another player making a difference was Deon Jones, who picked up 133 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Richland's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.8 points per game. As for Arlington Heights, their victory bumped their record up to 9-1.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Arlington Heights has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 223.9 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Richland has preferred to attack from the air: they average 302.8 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
