Preview: Greenville Red Raiders vs. Northwestern Trojans
The Greenville Red Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Northwestern Trojans at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Greenville comes in on six and Northwestern on 11.
Greenville had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 24-21 win over Greer on Friday.
Greenville's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Kylar Zimmerman, who rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown, and Mazeo "mj" bennett, who gained 140 total yards and a touchdown. Zimmerman really tore up the turf during one magnificent 83-yard run.
Meanwhile, Northwestern can now show off 11 landslide victories after their most recent match on Friday. They blew past Greenwood 55-7 at home. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 45-0.
Finley Polk and Turbo Richard were among the main playmakers for Northwestern as the former threw for 126 yards and three touchdowns and the latter rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. Polk has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last four times he's played. Jayden Woods got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Greenville is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season. As for Northwestern, their victory was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-1.
Greenville came up short against Northwestern when the teams last played back in November of 2022, falling 33-28. Can Greenville avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
