Football Preview: Northwest Christian Crusaders vs. Walden Grove Red Wolves
Northwest Christian has won three straight games at home, while Walden Grove has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Northwest Christian Crusaders will square off against the Walden Grove Red Wolves at 7:00 p.m. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 888 yards in their previous games.
Last Friday, Northwest Christian ended up a good deal behind Yuma Catholic and lost 35-20.
The losing side was boosted by Laki Wallwork, who threw for 327 yards and a touchdown, and also punched in a rushing score. Northwest Christian is undefeated when Wallwork posts 250 or more passing yards, but 2-3 otherwise. Landon Beckman was another key player, picking up 100 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Walden Grove hadn't done well against Canyon del Oro recently (they were 0-5 in their previous five matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Walden Grove enjoyed a cozy 37-21 victory over Canyon del Oro. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Red Wolves considering their six-point performance the matchup before.
Walden Grove can attribute much of their success to Robert Cash Iii, who rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and Kaleb Layton, who threw for 221 yards and a touchdown while completing 72.2% of his passes. That's the most rushing yards Cash Iii has posted since back in September.
Northwest Christian's loss dropped their record down to 7-3. As for Walden Grove, their win bumped their record up to an identical 7-3.
Northwest Christian didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Walden Grove when the teams last played back in August, but they still walked away with a 21-16 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Cash Iii, who rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Northwest Christian still be able to contain Cash Iii? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
