Preview: Hoxie Indians vs. Rawlins County Buffaloes
The Hoxie Indians will head out on the road to face off against the Rawlins County Buffaloes at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Hoxie sitting on four straight wins and Rawlins County on seven.
Last Friday, Hoxie faced Quinter in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Hoxie really took it to Quinter for the full four quarters, racking up a 52-6 win at home. The result was nothing new for Hoxie, who have now won five games by 46 points or more so far this season.
Duncan Bell continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 101 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries, while also throwing for 209 yards and three touchdowns while completing 78.6% of his passes. Samuel Watkins did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 102 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Rawlins County was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Decatur Community 58-12 on the road. Given Rawlins County's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked sixth, while Decatur Community is ranked 63rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Ryan Sramek had a dynamite game for Rawlins County, rushing for 133 yards and four touchdowns on only 14 carries. Sramek is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last seven games he's played. Braxton Dixson was another key contributor, rushing for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Rawlins County's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB six times. The heavy lifting was done by Dorian Culwell and Tru Dewey who racked up four sacks between them.
Hoxie has been no stranger to the win column this season, as they've started out with wins in six of their first seven matchups, giving them a 6-1 record. As for Rawlins County, their victory was their sixth straight on the road (dating back to last season), which bumped their overall record up to 7-0.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Friday's game as the two teams haven't had much trouble getting there this season. Hoxie commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 6.1 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like Rawlins County struggles in that department as they've been even better at 6.6 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Friday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup.
Hoxie was taken down by Rawlins County 46-18 in their previous matchup back in October of 2022. Can Hoxie avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
