Football Preview: Ligonier Valley Rams vs. South Allegheny Gladiators
The Ligonier Valley Rams have the luxury of staying home for another week and will welcome the South Allegheny Gladiators at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Ligonier Valley is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 40 points two weeks ago, they were much more limited against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Friday. They lost 28-7 to the Chargers. The match marked the Rams' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Ligonier Valley wouldn't let Our Lady of the Sacred Heart keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Ligonier Valley can thank Hunter Carr and John Jablunovsky for forcing both of them. Carr also set a new season high mark in total tackles with ten.
Meanwhile, South Allegheny has relied on a stalwart defense averaging 17.8 points allowed per game, but that average took a hit on Friday. They took a 48-38 hit to the loss column at the hands of South Park. That makes it the first time this season the Gladiators have let down their home crowd.
South Allegheny's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Drew Cook, who picked up 156 receiving yards and a touchdown, and Joey Gamret, who rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns. Cook torched the secondary when he pulled down a catch that went for 88 yards.
Ligonier Valley now has a losing record at 2-3. As for South Allegheny, the loss snapped their winning streak at four games and leaves them with a 4-1 record.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Ligonier Valley has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 229.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like South Allegheny struggles in that department as they've been averaging 187. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
