Preview: Sedgwick Cardinals vs. Sacred Heart Knights
The Sedgwick Cardinals will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Sacred Heart Knights at 6:00 p.m. The timing is sure in Sedgwick's favor as the squad sits on four straight wins at home while Sacred Heart has been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.
Sedgwick was not the first on the board last Friday, but they got there more often. They snuck past Marion with a 34-28 victory.
Sedgwick got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Tray Schroeder out in front who rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 14 yards and a touchdown while completing 100% of his passes. Another player making a difference was Jeff Nold, who picked up 120 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Another reason for the win was Sedgwick's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Marion's QB won't forget Austin Thieme anytime soon given Thieme sacked him four times.
Sacred Heart never got on the board in their matchup two weeks ago, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Republic County last Friday. They breezed by the Buffaloes at home to the tune of 51-20.
Sacred Heart can attribute much of their success to Cameron Cleveland, who rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries. Cleveland was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 50 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Michael Matteucci, who rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries.
Their wins bumped Sedgwick to 7-1 and Sacred Heart to 2-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's game: Sedgwick has been excellent in the air this season, having averaged 297.2 passing yards per game. It's a different story for Sacred Heart, though, as they've been averaging only 99.6 per game. How will Sacred Heart fare against such a dominant passing game?
Everything came up roses for Sedgwick against Sacred Heart in their previous matchup back in October of 2015 as the team secured a 44-14 win. Does Sedgwick have another victory up their sleeve, or will Sacred Heart turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
