Football Preview: Oakland-Craig Knights vs. Cedar Catholic Trojans
Oakland-Craig is on a eight-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Cedar Catholic is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Oakland-Craig Knights and the Cedar Catholic Trojans are set to duel on Friday.
Oakland-Craig is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Norfolk Catholic on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Oakland-Craig was beaten by Norfolk Catholic 48-21. The contest marked Oakland-Craig's lowest-scoring match so far this season.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Braylon Anderson, who threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns. He is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. A healthy portion of that aerial production (121 yards to be exact) went to Isaak Maxwell, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Meanwhile, Cedar Catholic was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Ponca 49-14 on the road. The Trojans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five games by 28 points or more this season.
Cedar Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Braeden Reifenrath led the charge by rushing for 102 yards and three touchdowns on only eight carries. That's the most rushing yards Reifenrath has posted since back in September of 2023. Another player making a difference was Breiton Whitmire, who rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Cedar Catholic was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 404 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 282 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups.
Oakland-Craig's loss dropped their record down to 5-2. As for Cedar Catholic, their win bumped their record up to 6-1.
Oakland-Craig skirted past Cedar Catholic 24-21 when the teams last played back in September of 2023. Will Oakland-Craig repeat their success, or does Cedar Catholic have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
