The Merritt Island Christian Cougars will face off against the Eastland Christian Hurricanes at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Merritt Island Christian is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Florida's top teams: City of Life Christian Academy, who was ranked 17th at the time (Merritt Island Christian was ranked third). The Cougars simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat the Warriors 53-0. The result was nothing new for the Cougars, who have now won seven games by 24 points or more so far this season.
Emmerson Hahn was his usual excellent self, rushing for 80 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries, while also catching one score. He also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, picking up a sack and making five total tackles (2.0 for loss). Fisher Edalgo was another key rusher, rushing for 73 yards and one TD.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Merritt Island Christian was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 327 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2024.
Merritt Island Christian's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB three times. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Hahn, Josiah Hutchinson, and Ethan Fink, who each picked up one sack apiece.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Eastland Christian). They took their contest on Friday with ease, bagging a 42-12 victory over Legacy Charter. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Hurricanes.
The win got Eastland Christian back to even at 3-3. As for Merritt Island Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 7-1.
Everything came up roses for Merritt Island Christian against Eastland Christian in their previous matchup back in September of 2024, as the team secured a 48-6 win. In that matchup, the Cougars amassed a halftime lead of 41-6, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
