Football Game Preview: Smoky Valley Vikings vs. Rock Creek Mustangs + Official Tickets

The Smoky Valley Vikings will challenge the Rock Creek Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Smoky Valley has given up an average of 32.6 points per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Smoky Valley is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Hillsboro on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. The Vikings were dealt a 37-8 loss at the hands of the Trojans. The Vikings were already down big by the end of the third quarter and they stayed that way after failing to score in the fourth.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ty Heitschmidt, who threw for 134 yards and one TD on only 11 passes, and also rushed for 66 yards.

Meanwhile, Rock Creek put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They breezed past Chapman to the tune of 57-12. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 35-6.

Rock Creek's win came from a few key players Smoky Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Zion Bell, who rushed for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 9.1 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional as that marked his fifth straight game with at least 110 rushing yards. Jacob Perkins was in the mix as well, providing Rock Creek with two scores.

Rock Creek was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 222 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 163 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.

Rock Creek's record is now 8-0. As for Smoky Valley, they have been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season.

Smoky Valley was dealt a bruising 51-8 defeat at the hands of Rock Creek in their previous matchup back in November of 2024. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Vikings were down 37-0.