Preview: Axtell Wildcats vs. St. Francis Flyers
The Axtell Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the St. Francis Flyers at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Axtell sitting on six straight wins and St. Francis on seven.
Last Thursday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Axtell beat Loomis 28-24. That's two games straight that Axtell has won by exactly four points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Axtell to victory, but perhaps none more so than Taaron Lavicky, who rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries.
Meanwhile, St. Francis stacked a seventh blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard last Thursday. They claimed a resounding 40-8 win over Fullerton at home. St. Francis pushed the score to 40-0 by the end of the third, a deficit Fullerton cut but never quite recovered from.
Among those leading the charge was Carson Wessel, who rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries, and also threw for 111 yards and a touchdown while completing 100% of his passes. The team also got some help courtesy of Mason Geilenkirchen, who gained 79 total yards and a touchdown.
Axtell's victory was their sixth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 7-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 36.5 points per game. As for St. Francis, their win bumped their record up to 8-1.
Friday's match might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Axtell has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 235.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like St. Francis struggles in that department as they've been averaging 207.3 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
