Football Preview: Pine Creek Eagles vs. Regis Jesuit Raiders
The Pine Creek Eagles will square off against the Regis Jesuit Raiders at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Friday, Pine Creek was fully in charge, breezing past Chaparral 49-8 at home. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 41-0.
Pine Creek relied on the efforts of Xavier Lukes, who rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries, and Caleb Petree, who rushed for 52 yards and two touchdowns. Those 101 rushing yards gave Lukes a new career-high.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Pine Creek was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 359 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Pine Creek didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Brayden Plunkett and Jeremy Dedig.
Meanwhile, Regis Jesuit waltzed into their matchup on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Huskies 51-7 at home. The Raiders' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Joe Pron and Luke Rubley were among the main playmakers for Regis Jesuit as the former gained 129 total yards and a touchdown and the latter threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Speaking of playmakers, who could forget Colt Jones, who went all the way with a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Special teams also played a big role in the game for Regis Jesuit, adding 21 points to the final score. All came courtesy of Jack Manthey: he went 3-for-3 kicking field goals for nine points, and 6-for-6 kicking extra points for an additional six.
The win made it two in a row for Pine Creek and bumps their season record up to 5-3. As for Regis Jesuit, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-3.
Saturday's game might be decided in the trenches. Pine Creek has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 179.5 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Regis Jesuit, though, as they've been averaging only 83. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Pine Creek didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Regis Jesuit in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, but they still walked away with a 21-17 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Regis Jesuit's Albert Medina, who picked up 92 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 70 yards. Now that he won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for Pine Creek to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
