Football Game Preview: Banning Lewis Academy Stallions vs. Lamar Thunder

The Banning Lewis Academy Stallions will take on the Lamar Thunder at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Banning Lewis Academy has given up an average of 26.9 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Banning Lewis Academy's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against La Junta on Friday. They had to suffer through a 45-0 loss at the hands of the Tigers. The game marked the first time this year in which the Stallions were not able to get on the board.

Meanwhile, Lamar got themselves on the board against Manitou Springs on Friday, but Manitou Springs never followed suit. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 42-0 victory over the Mustangs. The result was nothing new for the Thunder, who have now won four matchups by 32 points or more so far this season.

A big part of Lamar's win came down to the chemistry between Jacob Dunning and his top target Alexander Williams. Dunning threw for 358 yards and four TDs while completing 75% of his passes while Williams picked up 209 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Dunning's passing game has become a key predictor of Lamar's success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 110 or higher, but only 1-2 otherwise. Cason Pollart was another key player, picking up 89 receiving yards and one score.

Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Lamar proved: they limited Manitou Springs to a paltry 2.1 yards per carry. The team can thank Braxen Shelton for the heroic effort on defense: he. The dominant display was nothing new: Lamar has now limited their opponent to fewer and fewer yards per carry in three consecutive games.

Banning Lewis Academy now has a losing record of 3-4. As for Lamar, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.

Banning Lewis Academy took a serious blow against Lamar when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 54-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Dunning, who threw for 250 yards and six touchdowns while completing 76.5% of his passes. Now that the Stallions know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.