Football Preview: Mt. Zion Braves vs. Peoria Notre Dame Irish
After two games on the road, Mt. Zion is heading back home. They will face off against the Peoria Notre Dame Irish at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Mt. Zion is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They put the hurt on Carterville with a sharp 42-21 win. Considering the Braves have won five games by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
A big part of Mt. Zion's victory came down to the chemistry between Keller Stocks and his top target Jacob Harvey. Stocks threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.3 yards per attempt while Harvey picked up 160 receiving yards and two touchdowns. With that strong performance, Harvey is now averaging an impressive 102.2 receiving yards per game. Mt. Zion also got help from Brayden Trimble, who showed off his sure hands for 110 receiving yards.
Mt. Zion wouldn't let Carterville keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Trimble, JC Anderson, and Kaden Becker picked up one apiece.
Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but Peoria Notre Dame ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They pulled ahead with a 59-58 photo finish over Rochester. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Irish.
It was another big night for Jack Hanley, who rushed for 260 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 10.4 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another back making a difference was Lawson Alwan, who rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries.
Peoria Notre Dame was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 472 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 217 rushing yards in ten consecutive matches.
Mt. Zion pushed their record up to 7-3 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 46.7 points per game. As for Peoria Notre Dame, their record now sits at 6-4.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
