Football Game Preview: Pickerington Central Tigers vs. Groveport-Madison Cruisers

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Previous Games

10/11/24 - Home	35-28 W
10/06/23 - Home	42-0 W
10/07/22 - Away	21-14 W
10/08/21 - Home	36-0 W
09/18/20 - Away	43-3 W
+ 5 more games

Pickerington Central is 9-1 against Groveport-Madison since September of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Tigers are taking a road trip to square off against the Cruisers at 7:00 p.m. Pickerington Central knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past four matchups -- so hopefully Groveport-Madison likes a good challenge.

Pickerington Central is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Newark: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Tigers blew the Wildcats out of the water with a 52-7 final score. The Tigers haven't had any issues with the Wildcats recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.

A big part of Pickerington Central's victory came down to the chemistry between Rocco Williams and his top target Jayden Nelson. Williams threw for 168 yards and two TDs while Nelson picked up 84 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Pickerington Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 262 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 204 rushing yards in four consecutive games.

Pickerington Central didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Jaylon Kincannon, Nijhaun Nelms, and Larry Rowe picked up one apiece. Nelms got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Groveport-Madison earned a 20-7 win over Reynoldsburg on Friday. Given the Cruisers' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio football rankings (they are ranked 108th, while the Raiders are ranked 301st) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Groveport-Madison now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Pickerington Central, their victory bumped their record up to 6-1.

Pickerington Central was able to grind out a solid win over Groveport-Madison in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, winning 35-28. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tigers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.