Football Preview: St. Maries Lumberjacks vs. Priest River Spartans
St. Maries is 7-1 against Priest River since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The St. Maries Lumberjacks will host the Priest River Spartans at 7:00 p.m. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. Maries has struggled recently with six losses in a row, while Priest River will arrive with four straight victories.
St. Maries is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They were beaten by Grangeville 64-34 on Friday. The Lumberjacks were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 30-8.
St. Maries might have lost, but man, Isaiah Gustaffe was a machine: he picked up 186 receiving yards and a touchdown. Gustaffe was no stranger to the big play, lighting up the secondary with a catch that went for 65 yards.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Priest River at home against Orofino on Friday as the squad secured a 48-15 win. Considering the Spartans have won three contests by more than 32 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Sawyer Staudt was his usual excellent self, rushing for 264 yards and four touchdowns on only 15 carries. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more rushing touchdowns the last five times he's played.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Priest River was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 357 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 163 rushing yards in five consecutive games.
Priest River wouldn't let Orofino keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Nate Fegert, Brady Hatten, and Ukiah Martinez picked up one apiece. With that strong performance, Hatten is now averaging an impressive 5.3 total tackles per game.
St. Maries' defeat dropped their record down to 0-6. As for Priest River, they pushed their record up to 4-2 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season.
Everything came up roses for St. Maries against Priest River in their previous matchup back in October of 2022, as the team secured a 49-0 win. Does St. Maries have another victory up their sleeve, or will Priest River turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
