Preview: Ottawa Pirates vs. Morris Redskins
Ottawa is 0-5 against Morris since September of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Ottawa Pirates will look to defend their home field against the Morris Redskins at 7:00 p.m. Ottawa will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings (they are ranked 251st, while Morris is ranked 15th).
Last Friday, Ottawa was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 24-19 to LaSalle-Peru. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Ottawa in their matchups with LaSalle-Peru: they've now lost nine in a row.
Meanwhile, Morris put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their undefeated season alive. They blew past Woodstock 48-7 at home. With Morris ahead 42-0 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Morris to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jacob Swartz, who rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns on only 15 carries. Swartz is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last four games he's played. Carter Button was another key contributor, throwing for 139 yards and three touchdowns while completing 77.8% of his passes.
Ottawa's defeat was their fourth straight on the road (dating back to last season), which dropped their overall record down to 3-4. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 10-3 Morris and 4-3 LaSalle-Peru (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 62.1% over those games). As for Morris, their victory was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 7-0.
Ottawa was dealt a bruising 59-7 defeat at the hands of Morris in their previous meeting back in October of 2022. Will Ottawa have more luck at home instead of on the road?
