Football Preview: Neligh-Oakdale Warriors vs. St. Mary's Cardinals
Two dominant signal callers in Corbin Hoefer and Gage Hedstrom are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Neligh-Oakdale Warriors will be playing in front of their home fans against the St. Mary's Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Friday, Neligh-Oakdale was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 36-32 to Elgin/Pope John. The Warriors gained 146 more yards on the day, but it was the Wolfpack that made the best use of them.
Despite the defeat, Neligh-Oakdale got top-tier performance from Cooper Arehart, who rushed for 161 yards and four touchdowns, and also threw for 264 yards and a touchdown. With that strong performance, Arehart is now averaging an impressive 2.1 rushing touchdowns per game. A healthy portion of that aerial production (87 yards to be exact) went to Tyson Blakeman.
Neligh-Oakdale didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Arehart and Breckin Kight. Arehart has been hot recently, having also posted two or more rushing touchdowns the last three times he's played.
Meanwhile, St. Mary's was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past North Central 66-20 at home. The game marked the Cardinals' most dominant win of the season.
Hedstrom was his usual excellent self, rushing for 73 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries, while also throwing for 80 yards and two touchdowns. His longest rush was for an incredible 71 yards. Another player making a difference was Jace Rosenkrans, who rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: St. Mary's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 205 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 156 rushing yards in seven consecutive matches.
This is the second loss in a row for Neligh-Oakdale and nudges their season record down to 2-5. As for St. Mary's, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Neligh-Oakdale has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 189.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like St. Mary's struggles in that department as they've been averaging 210. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
