Football Preview: Mount Olive Marauders vs. Morris Knolls Golden Eagles
Mount Olive and Morris Knolls are an even 5-5 against one another since September of 2017, but not for long. The Mount Olive Marauders will venture away from home to square off against the Morris Knolls Golden Eagles on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Mount Olive is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Newark Central 40-6. Given the Marauders' advantage in MaxPreps' New Jersey football rankings (they are ranked 50th, while the Blue Devils are ranked 140th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Tyler Cumming was his usual excellent self, rushing for 171 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.1 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 143 rushing yards.
Mount Olive was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 262 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their rushing yard total in four consecutive games.
Mount Olive wouldn't let Newark Central keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Justin Reed, Vincent Carpini, and Justin Bullock picked up one apiece. Bullock also set a new season high mark in total tackles with seven. Mount Olive got some further help from Lincoln Youtz: he made 19 total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Morris Knolls put another one in the bag on Saturday to keep their perfect season alive. They breezed by Colonia to the tune of 43-13. The Golden Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by 20 points or more this season.
Morris Knolls' win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Justin Hanson, who rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on only five carries. The bulk of those rushing yards came from one huge play: a run that gained an incredible 82 yards. Jaylin Jones got in on the action as well, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Morris Knolls didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jones and Jayden Koger.
Morris Knolls' win was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-0. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 11.5 points per game. As for Mount Olive, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season.
Friday's match will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Cumming and Hanson. Cumming just won't slow down this season and has run in 11 touchdowns while averaging 115.1 rushing yards per game. Hanson has been a dominant force too and has run in 7 touchdowns while averaging 89.7 rushing yards per game.
Mount Olive suffered a grim 27-7 defeat to Morris Knolls in their previous matchup back in October. Can Mount Olive avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
