Football Game Preview: Brockway Rovers vs. Ridgway/Johnsonburg

The Brockway Rovers will venture away from home to square off against Ridgway/Johnsonburg at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

On Friday, Brockway took a blow against Karns City, falling 63-27. While losing is never fun, the Rovers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 251st, while the Gremlins are ranked 105th).

Meanwhile, Ridgway/Johnsonburg had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 38 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They came within six points of losing the streak, but they secured a 33-27 W against the Panthers.

This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Nate Steger and Markus Gerg. Steger rushed for 59 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only six carries while Gerg rushed for 143 yards. An impressive showing, but Gerg really ramped things up playing D: he picked up two sacks and made ten total tackles.

Ridgway/Johnsonburg was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 279 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 279 rushing yards in three consecutive matchups.

On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Ridgway/Johnsonburg's defense and their three sacks. In that department, Gerg was the leader with two. He also rushed for 143 rushing yards, which is notable because Ridgway/Johnsonburg is 3-1 when he posts at least 80 rushing yards, but 1-3 otherwise.

Brockway's loss dropped their record down to 5-3. As for Ridgway/Johnsonburg, the win got them back to even at 4-4.

Brockway took their victory against Ridgway/Johnsonburg when the teams last played back in September of 2024 by a conclusive 27-6 score. Will the Rovers repeat their success, or do Ridgway/Johnsonburg have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.