Football Preview: Winona Wildcats vs. Arp Tigers
A feisty cat fight will be fought when Wildcats challenges the Arp Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Winona is out to stop a seven-game streak of losses at home dating back to last season.
Having struggled with 12 losses in a row dating back to last season, Winona finally turned things around against Buffalo on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Bison , sneaking past 46-44. The Wildcats' offense finally found a way to get into gear: the high-octane performance was a 180-degree turn from their last four games.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Arp). They blew past Elkhart 62-38 on Friday. The Tigers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matchups by 24 points or more this season.
Josh Smith continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 300 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 17.6 yards per carry. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 117.4 rushing yards per game. Thomas Mckelvey was another key player, rushing for 68 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Arp was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 494 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 151 rushing yards in seven consecutive matches.
Winona's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-7. As for Arp, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season.
Winona took a serious blow against Arp in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 65-7. Thankfully for Winona, Frank Smith (who rushed for 129 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries, and also threw for 70 yards and two touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
