Football Preview: Sandy Valley Cardinals vs. Indian Valley Braves
The Sandy Valley Cardinals are taking a road trip to challenge the Indian Valley Braves at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Sandy Valley sitting on three straight victories and Indian Valley on five.
Sandy Valley's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Tuscarawas Central Catholic, posting a 45-0 win at home. That looming 45-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Cardinals yet this season.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Indian Valley at home against Buckeye Trail on Friday as the team secured a 49-8 victory. Given the Braves' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio football rankings (they are ranked 73rd, while the Warriors are ranked 374th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Grady Kinsey, who rushed for 246 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 13.7 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his eighth straight game with at least 143 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Indian Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 364 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in 11 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Indian Valley's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. Eric Golder led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Sandy Valley now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Indian Valley, their win was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0.
Sandy Valley took a serious blow against Indian Valley when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 40-6. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kinsey, who rushed for 123 yards and four touchdowns on only ten carries. Now that Sandy Valley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
