Football Preview: Walnut Grove Wildcats vs. Independence Knights
The Walnut Grove Wildcats will face off against the Independence Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The timing is sure in Walnut Grove's favor as the squad sits on four straight wins at home while Independence has been banged up by eight consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.
If Independence heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Walnut Grove took over last week. Walnut Grove walked away with a 37-28 victory over Melissa on Friday.
It was another big night for Hayes Hackney, who threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per attempt. 127 of those passing yards were hauled in by Zaiden Crain, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Special teams also played a big role in the game for Walnut Grove, adding 13 points to the final score. All came courtesy of Dominic Sciano: he went 3-for-3 kicking field goals for nine points, and 4-for-4 kicking extra points for an additional four.
Meanwhile, a win for Independence just wasn't in the cards on Thursday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were outmatched by Emerson at home and fell 63-7. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 603rd, while the Mavericks are ranked 112th).
Logan Murindagomo put forth a good effort for the losing side as he rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Even though they lost, Independence was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 204 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Walnut Grove's victory bumped their record up to 8-1. As for Independence, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-7.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
