Football Preview: Blue Island Eisenhower Cardinals vs. Shepard Astros
The Blue Island Eisenhower Cardinals will square off against the Shepard Astros at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Blue Island Eisenhower is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Hillcrest just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Friday. They lost 42-17 to the Hawks. While losing is never fun, the Cardinals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 268th, while the Hawks are ranked 127th).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Shepard). They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Reavis 57-0 on the road. The Astros might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matches by 30 points or more this season.
Noah Vaughn was his usual excellent self, rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 97 yards and two touchdowns. He is becoming a predictor of Shepard's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is undefeated (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Cameren Tryon was Vaughn's top target, picking up 32 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 48 yards and a touchdown.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Shepard was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 237 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 206 rushing yards in five consecutive games.
Shepard didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Elijah Hayes and Krystian Koscak.
Blue Island Eisenhower's loss dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Shepard, their victory was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-2.
Blue Island Eisenhower strolled past Shepard when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a score of 21-7. Will Blue Island Eisenhower repeat their success, or does Shepard have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
