Football Preview: Carlinville Cavaliers vs. North Mac Panthers
Carlinville has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will welcome the North Mac Panthers at 7:00 p.m. Carlinville will be strutting in after a victory while North Mac will be coming in after a loss.
Carlinville is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their contest on the road on Friday with ease, bagging a 40-0 win over Southwestern. The Cavaliers pushed the score to 27-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Piasa Birds had little chance of recovering from.
Triston Thompson went supernova for Carlinville, rushing for 52 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries, while also picking up 30 receiving yards and a touchdown. Thompson also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, making six total tackles (2.0 for loss) and defending five passes. Ronald Laplante was in the mix as well, providing Carlinville with a touchdown.
Carlinville wouldn't let Southwestern keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Caleb Robinson, Nate Dyer, and Weston Kuykendall picked up one apiece.
Meanwhile, North Mac entered their match against Vandalia on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. North Mac was outmatched by Vandalia at home and fell 42-12. The game marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Even though they lost, North Mac was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 290 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 264 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Carlinville now has a winning record of 3-2. As for North Mac, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 3-2.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Carlinville has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 155.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Mac struggles in that department as they've been averaging 315.4. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything went Carlinville's way against North Mac in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, as Carlinville made off with a 45-20 victory. Does Carlinville have another victory up their sleeve, or will North Mac turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
