Football Preview: Hillcrest Hawks vs. Thornton Fractional North Meteors
The Hillcrest Hawks are taking a road trip to challenge the Thornton Fractional North Meteors at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Hillcrest's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last three games.
Hillcrest's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Thornton Fractional South 43-0 at home. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Hawks had established a 36 point advantage.
Hillcrest's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Erimus Wright, who rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. That's the most rushing yards Wright has posted since back in October of 2023. Hillcrest also got a significant boost from Jacob Johnson, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 93 yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Hillcrest was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 375 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in five consecutive contests.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Hillcrest's defense and their four sacks. Leading the way was Max Carmicle with two. Another thorn in Thornton Fractional South's side was Eric Pike Iii, who made 12 total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Thornton Fractional North entered their game against Oak Forest on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Thornton Fractional North took a 27-21 hit to the loss column at the hands of Oak Forest. It was the first time this season that the Meteors let down their fans at home.
The win got Hillcrest back to even at 3-3. As for Thornton Fractional North, their loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 4-2.
Hillcrest and Thornton Fractional North were almost perfectly matched up in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, but Hillcrest suffered an agonizing 27-26 defeat. Can Hillcrest avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
