Football Preview: Dallastown Wildcats vs. Harrisburg Cougars
Two dominant backs in Christopher Cromartie and Messiah Mickens are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. After each having a week off, the Dallastown Wildcats and the Harrisburg Cougars will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Harrisburg is hoping to do what Red Lion couldn't two weeks ago: put an end to Dallastown's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Everything went Dallastown's way against Red Lion as Dallastown made off with a 42-20 win. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 83rd, while the Lions are ranked 317th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Dallastown can attribute much of their success to Kody Kissner, who threw for 123 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 70 yards. Those 70 rushing yards gave Kissner a new career-high.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Harrisburg). They took their matchup two weeks ago with ease, bagging a 56-17 victory over Central Dauphin East. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cougars.
It was another big night for Mickens, who rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns on only ten carries. That high mark didn't come from nowhere: he posted at least 102 rushing yards in the fifth games prior. Jaiyon Lewis was another key player, throwing for 161 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 passes.
Harrisburg was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 265 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 208 rushing yards in five consecutive games.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Harrisburg's defense and their four sacks. Nehemiah Ewell was especially locked on to Central Dauphin East's QB and sacked him three times.
Harrisburg's win was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season, 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 35.6 points per game. As for Dallastown, their record is now 9-1.
Saturday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Dallastown has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 185.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Harrisburg struggles in that department as they've been averaging 190.2. It's looking like Saturday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
