Preview: Lockwood LIONS vs. Laurel Locomotives
Lockwood has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against The Laurel Locomotives at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Montana (Lockwood is ranked 26th, while Laurel is ranked 15th).
After soaring to 36 points the game before, Lockwood were a bit more limited in their matchup on Friday. They ended up on the wrong side of a rough 29-8 walloping at the hands of Billings Central Catholic. Lockwood was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 29-0.
Despite the loss, Lockwood got a solid performance out of Noah Conklin, who rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown. Conklin is on a roll when it comes to solo tackles, as he's now made six or more in the last three games he's played.
Meanwhile, Laurel had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 31-6 margin over East Helena. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Laurel had established a 24 point advantage.
Laurel's victory bumped their season record to 6-3 while Lockwood's loss dropped theirs to 5-4.
Lockwood took a serious blow against Laurel when the teams last played back in August of 2022, falling 62-9. Can Lockwood avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
