Football Preview: Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs vs. East Central Trojans
Two dominant backs in Alex Leugers and Ryan Minges are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs will head out on the road to square off against the East Central Trojans at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Franklin Community is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 42-17 margin over Columbus East. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Grizzly Cubs considering their three-point performance the match before.
Leugers was his usual excellent self, rushing for 323 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 10.4 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional as that marked his fifth straight game with at least 162 rushing yards. Cade Petty also helped out with an impressive 84 receiving yards.
Franklin Community was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 329 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 184 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Franklin Community's defense and their five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Kingston Foor and Blake Smythe, who racked up four sacks between them.
Meanwhile, East Central got themselves on the board against Seymour on Friday, but Seymour never followed suit. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 35-0 win over the Owls. Given the Trojans' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Owls are ranked 148th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
East Central found their leader in sophomore Minges, who rushed for 235 yards and four touchdowns on only 12 carries. Minges' longest rush was for an impressive 64 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
East Central didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Matthew Roy and Gavin Berting.
East Central is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 38.7 points. As for Franklin Community, their record now sits at 4-6.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Franklin Community has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 215.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like East Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 201. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
