Football Preview: Eastern Hancock Royals vs. Lapel Bulldogs
Eastern Hancock is 2-8 against Lapel since October of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Eastern Hancock Royals will welcome the Lapel Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Hancock is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 37.5 points per game this season.
Last Friday, Eastern Hancock humbled Shenandoah with a 41-7 victory. Considering the Royals have won three contests by more than 25 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Mark Kube continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 121 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 7.6 yards per carry. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in August. Luke Manship also helped out with an impressive 80 receiving yards.
Eastern Hancock's defense stepped up as well, laying out Jarrett Helman. five times. Brennon Trueblood was especially locked on to Shenandoah's QB and sacked him twice. Trueblood also made five total tackles, which is notable because Eastern Hancock is undefeated when he posts at least four total tackles, but 2-3 otherwise.
Meanwhile, Lapel can finally bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Friday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Jay County 14-12.
Lapel wouldn't let Jay County keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Will Gilbert, Karson Kinsinger, and Isaiah Young picked up one apiece. Young is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last 15 games he's played dating back to last season.
Eastern Hancock is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season. As for Lapel, their victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-3.
We should be in store for an exciting game as both have no problem gaining yardage. Eastern Hancock has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 433.9 total yards per game. However, it's not like Lapel struggles in that department as they've been averaging 364. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Eastern Hancock came out on top in a nail-biter against Lapel when the teams last played back in October of 2023, sneaking past 45-43. Does Eastern Hancock have another victory up their sleeve, or will Lapel turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
