Preview: Kankakee Kays vs. Bremen Braves
The Kankakee Kays will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Bremen Braves at 7:00 p.m. Kankakee will be looking to keep their nine-game home win streak alive.
Kankakee stacked a seventh blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They claimed a resounding 42-0 victory over Crete-Monee at home. Given Kankakee's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 15th, while Crete-Monee is ranked 107th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Kankakee to victory, but perhaps none more so than Tony Phillips, who rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown on only six carries, and also picked up 43 receiving yards. James Stampley was another key contributor, gaining 129 total yards and four touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Bremen got themselves on the board against Hillcrest on Saturday, but Hillcrest never followed suit. They took their contest on the road with ease, bagging a 34-0 victory over the Hawks. Bremen pushed the score to 28-0 by the end of the third, a deficit Hillcrest had little chance of recovering from.
Bremen's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Nehemiah Rogers led the charge by rushing for 99 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries. Another player making a difference was London Blackmon, who gained 45 total yards and two touchdowns.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Hillcrest to a paltry 126 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Bremen's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out nine times before it was all said and done. It was a group effort, with three picking up two apiece.
Their wins bumped Kankakee to 9-0 and Bremen to 5-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest: Kankakee has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 267.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Bremen struggles in that department as they've been averaging 152.7 per game. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
