Football Preview: Carlisle Thundering Herd vs. Harrisburg Cougars
Carlisle has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against the Harrisburg Cougars at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 56-7, which was the final score in Carlisle's tilt against Bishop McDevitt on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Thundering Herd can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 282nd, while the Crusaders are ranked 15th).
Meanwhile, Harrisburg entered their tilt with Cedar Cliff on Friday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They came out on top against the Colts by a score of 28-20. The score was all tied up 14-14 at the break, but the Cougars were the (much) better team in the second half.
Jaiyon Lewis continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 231 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 11.6 yards per attempt, and also rushing for 69 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. 82 of those passing yards were hauled in by Messiah Mickens, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Harrisburg's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. Elias Coke picked up that interception and then proceeded to rub salt in the wound by taking it back the other way for a touchdown. Harrisburg got some further help from Isaac John Lewis: he picked up a sack and made 12 total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Carlisle dropped their record down to 0-5 with the defeat, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Harrisburg, their win bumped their record up to 4-1.
Carlisle took a serious blow against Harrisburg in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 60-7. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Harrisburg's Shawn Lee, who threw for 149 yards and three touchdowns on perfect 12-for-12 passing, and also rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. Now that Carlisle knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
