Football Game Preview: Pennington Red Hawks vs. Long Island Lutheran Crusaders

For the first time this season, Pennington will have a chance to prove themselves in a conference matchup. They will welcome the Long Island Lutheran Crusaders at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Pennington has four straight wins, Long Island Lutheran has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Pennington is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They put the hurt on Wyoming Seminary College Prep with a sharp 50-26 victory on Friday. Given the Red Hawks' advantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 62nd in New Jersey, while the Blue Knights are ranked 270th in Pennsylvania) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Tommy Surtz and Lorenzo Swain. Surtz rushed for 69 yards and one score while Swain rushed for 48 yards and one TD.

Pennington was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 234 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in November of 2024.

Meanwhile, Long Island Lutheran played a tough matchup on Saturday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were beaten by Eagle Academy II 55-25. The Crusaders were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 27-6.

Pennington will need to focus on slowing down Peyton Robinson, one of several Long Island Lutheran players who made an impact when they last played. He threw for 276 yards and three touchdowns while completing 77.3% of his passes. The team also got some help courtesy of Kameron Roy, who picked up 109 receiving yards and one score.

Long Island Lutheran's defeat dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Pennington, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.

Everything came up roses for Pennington against Long Island Lutheran in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, as the squad secured a 42-13 victory. Do the Red Hawks have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Crusaders turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.