Football Preview: Pike Red Devils vs. North Central Panthers
Pike and North Central are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2015, but not for long. The Pike Red Devils are taking a road trip to face off against the North Central Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Pike is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 26.9 points per game this season.
Pike will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up seven points last Friday, then bounced right back against Guerin Catholic on Friday. Pike breezed by Guerin Catholic on the road to the tune of 42-3.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Chase Shurn and he. Shurn rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries while he rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries. The dominant performance also gave Bobby Thomas a new career-high in rushing yards. Pike also got help from Kevin Tichenor Iii, who showed off his sure hands for 87 receiving yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pike was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 244 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Guerin Catholic only rushed for 112.
Meanwhile, North Central was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their 17th straight loss dating back to last season. They were outmatched by Lawrence Central on the road and fell 42-7. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 70th, while the Bears are ranked 13th).
Pike now has a winning record of 4-3. As for North Central, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-7.
Everything went Pike's way against North Central when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as Pike made off with a 35-14 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pike since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
