Two dominant signal callers in Keller Stocks and Isaac Repscher are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Mt. Zion Braves will head out on the road to square off against the Taylorville Tornadoes at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Taylorville will be up against a hot Mt. Zion team: the squad just extended their winning streak to five. The Braves were the clear victors by a 31-7 margin over Effingham on Friday. Given the Braves' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 60th, while the Hearts are ranked 226th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kellen Bollhorst continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 164 yards and three TDs, while also picking up 51 receiving yards.
Mt. Zion's run defense was locked in: Effingham could only muster 1.8 yards per carry. While three picked up at least three total tackles, Jacob Harvey stood above the rest. He picked up 35 receiving yards. Mt. Zion's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 3.65 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 7.47 on average over their last five games.
Mt. Zion's defense didn't let Jaxon Bridges, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for 4.5 sacks. Kalvin Becker refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Taylorville). They blew past Charleston 57-14 on Friday. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Tornadoes had established a 36-point advantage.
Taylorville's win came from a few key players Mt. Zion will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Spencer Brown, who rushed for 112 yards and one score on only nine carries. Those 112 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Blake Ladage, who picked up 82 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Mt. Zion's record now sits at 6-1. As for Taylorville, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
We should be in store for an exciting game as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. Mt. Zion has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 389.3 total yards per game. However, it's not like Taylorville struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 447.4 total yards. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Mt. Zion came out on top in a nail-biter against Taylorville in their previous matchup back in September of 2024, sneaking past 14-12. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Braves since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
