Football Preview: Niobrara/Verdigre Cougars vs. Boyd County Spartans
Niobrara/Verdigre is 2-8 against Boyd County since September of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Niobrara/Verdigre Cougars will be playing at home against the Boyd County Spartans at 7:00 p.m. Hopefully Niobrara/Verdigre focused on turnovers this week as the team gave up six on Friday.
Niobrara/Verdigre is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 80 points two weeks ago, they were much more limited against Hartington-Newcastle on Friday. They were beaten by the Wildcats 70-6. The Cougars were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 50-6.
Even if they lost, Niobrara/Verdigre's defensive line still kept up the pressure with five sacks. Leading the way was Praeson Klug with two.
Meanwhile, Boyd County gave up the first points last Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. They were the clear victor by a 42-20 margin over Wausa/Osmond. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Spartans had established a 20 point advantage.
Boyd County's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Hudson Hoffman, who rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown, and also caught a touchdown. Hoffman didn't just play on offense: he also made ten total tackles and defended a pass. Another passer making a difference was Charlie Adams, who gained 116 total yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Boyd County was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 204 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 187 rushing yards in five consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Niobrara/Verdigre's loss dropped their record down to 1-3. As for Boyd County, their win bumped their record up to 3-1.
Niobrara/Verdigre took a serious blow against Boyd County in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 54-8. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hoffman, who rushed for 236 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries. Now that Niobrara/Verdigre knows 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
