Football Game Preview: New Prairie Leaves Home

By Team Reports Sep 17, 2024, 6:05am

Football Preview: New Prairie Cougars vs. Elkhart Lions

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The New Prairie Cougars will head out to square off against the Elkhart Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Last Friday, New Prairie really took it to South Bend Adams for the full four quarters, racking up a 48-6 win on the road. The Cougars pushed the score to 41-6 by the end of the third, a deficit the Eagles had no chance of recovering from.

Reed Robinson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 131 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries, while also throwing for 104 yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in October of 2023. Zak Henrich was in the mix as well, providing New Prairie with two touchdowns.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, New Prairie was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 309 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

New Prairie's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Hayden Scott and Hayden Whitenack.

Meanwhile, Elkhart had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 42 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They blew past the Wildcats 35-2 on the road. Given the Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 44th, while the Wildcats are ranked 148th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Elkhart's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Novell Miller, who rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. Quinn Rost was another key signal caller, throwing for 138 yards and a touchdown while completing 85.7% of his passes.

New Prairie's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 3-1. As for Elkhart, their record is now 3-1.

Friday's contest might be decided in the trenches. New Prairie has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 251.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Elkhart struggles in that department as they've been averaging 207. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.

New Prairie beat Elkhart 16-8 in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Does New Prairie have another victory up their sleeve, or will Elkhart turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps