Football Game Preview: Western Wildcats vs. Hialeah Gardens Gladiators

The Western Wildcats will face off against the Hialeah Gardens Gladiators at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few points on average (Western 7.2, Hialeah Gardens 4.9) so any points scored will be well earned.

Western is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. Their defense stepped up to hand Stoneman Douglas a 6-0 shutout. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked sixth, while the Eagles are ranked 41st) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Hialeah Gardens had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18.1 points) and they went ahead and made it ten on Wednesday. They strolled past the Firebirds with points to spare, taking the game 14-0. Give the Gladiators' defense some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.

Western is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 6.1 points on average over those games. As for Hialeah Gardens, their win bumped their record up to 11-3.