Football Game Preview: Blanche Ely Tigers vs. Monarch Knights

The Blanche Ely Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the Monarch Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Blanche Ely's offense hasn't had much luck over their past four matchups, but Thursday's contest will give them a chance to turn things around.

It was a proper cat-fight when Blanche Ely took on Coconut Creek on Thursday. The Tigers were dealt a 46-6 defeat at the hands of the Cougars. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 267th, while the Cougars are ranked 69th).

Meanwhile, Monarch was able to grind out a solid victory over Piper on Friday, taking the game 41-32. The Knights pushed the score to 35-13 by the end of the third, a deficit the Bengals cut but never quite recovered from.

Blanche Ely better keep an eye on Florentino Lopez. He was instrumental in Monarch's win, rushing for 41 yards and one TD, while also throwing for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Anthony Williams helped out on the ground, rushing for 87 yards.

Monarch was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 381 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.

Special teams was a major factor in the game for Monarch, racking up 11 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Jabari Brady, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.

Monarch now has a winning record of 5-4. As for Blanche Ely, their loss dropped their record down to 3-6.

Blanche Ely came up short against Monarch when the teams last played back in November of 2024, falling 52-42. Thankfully for the Tigers, Samari Reed (who rushed for 154 yards and five scores while picking up 7.3 yards per carry, and also picked up 71 receiving yards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.