Football Preview: Batesville Bulldogs vs. Franklin County Wildcats
The Batesville Bulldogs will head out on the road to square off against the Franklin County Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Batesville is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 32.5 points per game this season.
Batesville's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed two weeks ago. They claimed a resounding 41-0 win over Connersville. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 81st, while the Spartans are ranked 212th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Batesville can attribute much of their success to Gage Pohlman, who gained 174 total yards and two touchdowns, and Will Jaisle, who threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns while completing 78.6% of his passes.
Batesville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 226 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Connersville only rushed for 83.
Meanwhile, with a playoff game on the line, Franklin County rose to the challenge on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 33-19 victory over the Lions. Winning may never get old, but the Wildcats sure are getting used to it with their fifth in a row.
Quinn Gillman was his usual excellent self, rushing for 91 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 198 yards and two touchdowns while completing 73.9% of his passes. 83 of those passing yards were hauled in by Jack Seals, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Franklin County didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. Gillman picked up that interception and then proceeded to rub salt in the wound by taking it back the other way for a touchdown.
Batesville's win bumped their record up to 6-3. As for Franklin County, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Batesville has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 160.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Franklin County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 205.3. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Batesville ended up a good deal behind Franklin County in their previous meeting on October 11th, losing 31-17. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Gillman, who threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 13.2 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 85 yards. Now that Batesville knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
