Football Preview: Eastern Hancock Royals vs. Heritage Christian Eagles
Eastern Hancock hasn't had much luck against Heritage Christian recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Eastern Hancock Royals will square off against the Heritage Christian Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Eastern Hancock will head into Friday's game out to bounce back: they came back down to earth on Friday after soaring to a 26-point contest in their last game. They fell just short of Centerville by a score of 29-26. The loss was the Royals' first of the season.
The losing side was boosted by Eli Manship, who picked up 126 receiving yards and a touchdown. That's the most total yards he has posted since back in September of 2023. Garrett Shaw got in on the action too, returning a kick for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Heritage Christian ended up a good deal behind Guerin Catholic on Friday and lost 53-34. The Eagles have struggled against the Golden Eagles recently, as their match on Friday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, Heritage Christian had strong showings from Eli Nix, who rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns, and Elijah Pimental, who rushed for 181 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.1 yards per carry. Pimental's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 129 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Even though they lost, Heritage Christian was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 249 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 150 rushing yards in ten consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Eastern Hancock's defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 2-1. As for Heritage Christian, their loss was their first of the season and also makes their record 2-1.
Eastern Hancock came up short against Heritage Christian in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 24-20. Can Eastern Hancock avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
