Indians
| 09/26/25 @ Decatur Community | 28 |
| 09/19/25 vs Greeley County | 51 |
| 09/12/25 @ Wheatland-Grinnell | 47 |
| 09/05/25 vs Quinter | 25 |
The St. Francis Indians will take on the Hill City Ringnecks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. St. Francis is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 37.8 points per game this season.
On Friday, St. Francis came up short against Decatur Community and fell 38-28. The defensive woes were uncharacteristic for the Indians, who until this contest were averaging 11.5 points allowed.
St. Francis might have lost, but man, Lucas Raile was a machine: he rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 234 yards and a pair of TDs. Another player making a difference was Dayton Fromholtz, who picked up 192 receiving yards and one score.
Meanwhile, Hill City won against Thunder Ridge last Friday with 58 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. The Ringnecks claimed a resounding 58-20 victory over Rawlins County. The win was familiar territory for the Ringnecks, who have now won three games in a row.
Hill City's win came from a few key players St. Francis will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tate Balthazor, who rushed for 167 yards and three TDs on only 11 carries, and also threw for 202 yards and three touchdowns while completing 77.8% of his passes. That's the most rushing touchdowns he has posted since back in September of 2024. Tyler Ashbaugh was Balthazor's top target, picking up 15 receiving yards.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Hill City was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 359 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 153 rushing yards in nine consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Having lost for the first time this season, St. Francis fell to 3-1. As for Hill City, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 3-1.
St. Francis was taken down by Hill City 76-36 when the teams last played back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Balthazor, who threw for 218 yards and five touchdowns, and also rushed for 76 yards and a pair of scores on only ten carries. Now that the Indians know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
