The Yutan Chieftains are taking a road trip to square off against the Arlington Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Yutan will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up seven points two weeks ago, then bounced right back against Tekamah-Herman on Friday. The Chieftains really took it to the Tigers for the full four quarters, racking up a 56-8 victory. The Chieftains might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by 28 points or more this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Yutan to victory, but perhaps none more so than Otto Henkel, who rushed for 86 yards and two scores on only seven carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaleb Fenner, who rushed for 58 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only six carries.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Yutan was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 281 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 202 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.
Yutan didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Ryan Maguire and Anthony Jessen.
Meanwhile, the third road contest was the charm for Arlington, as they earned their first away win of the season. They strolled past North Bend Central with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 30-14. The Eagles haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Ben Flesner and Oliver Ladehoff. Flesner rushed for 119 yards and two TDs while Ladehoff rushed for 159 yards while picking up 9.9 yards per carry. Those two rushing touchdowns gave Flesner a new career-high.
One reason for the win was Arlington's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Tanner Kyllo was especially locked on to North Bend Central's QB and sacked him twice. Kyllo has become a key player for Arlington: the team is undefeated when he posts at least one sack, but 1-2 otherwise.
Yutan's record is now 4-2. As for Arlington, the win was their first on the road , bumping their record up to 4-2.
Friday's game might be decided on the ground. Yutan has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 238.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Arlington struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 315.3 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Yutan was able to grind out a solid victory over Arlington in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, winning 34-24. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Chieftains since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
