Preview: Andover Central Jaguars vs. Saint Thomas Aquinas Saints
The Andover Central Jaguars will square off against the Saint Thomas Aquinas Saints at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Andover Central sitting on six straight wins and Saint Thomas Aquinas on four.
With a playoff game on the line, Andover Central rose to the challenge on Friday. They strolled past the Red Raiders with points to spare, taking the game 26-7.
Andover Central got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Landon Kitterman out in front who picked up 118 receiving yards and a touchdown. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddox Archibald, who rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Saint Thomas Aquinas can now show off four landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. They claimed a resounding 42-14 win over Tonganoxie on the road. Given Saint Thomas Aquinas' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked fourth, while Tonganoxie is ranked 33rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Saint Thomas Aquinas had a senior duo take command as Cole Richardson rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries and Gianni Rizzi rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries. Richardson was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 57 yards. Another player making a difference was Aiden Skinner, who threw for 34 yards and a touchdown.
The last time Andover Central lost on the road was back back in September. Having now won three straight away matchups, they've pushed their record up to 9-3. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 29.7 points per game. As for Saint Thomas Aquinas, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season.
