Football Preview: Eaglecrest Raptors vs. ThunderRidge Grizzlies
The Eaglecrest Raptors will take on the ThunderRidge Grizzlies at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Eaglecrest's defense has only allowed 12.5 points per game this season, so ThunderRidge's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Eaglecrest took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They walked away with a 17-7 win over Denver East. The score was all tied up 0-0 at the break, but the Raptors were the (much) better team in the second half.
Joe Steiner was his usual excellent self, rushing for 191 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Eaglecrest was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 298 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, ThunderRidge was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their sixth straight loss dating back to last season. They were beaten by Ralston Valley 39-2. While losing is never fun, the Grizzlies can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado football rankings (they are ranked 64th, while the Mustangs are ranked fifth).
Even if they lost, ThunderRidge's defensive line still kept up the pressure with four sacks. Leading the way was Camden Neumann with three. ThunderRidge got some further help from Luke Christensen: he forced a fumble and made 13 total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Eaglecrest's record is now 3-1. As for ThunderRidge, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-4.
Thursday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Eaglecrest has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 203.8 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for ThunderRidge, though, as they've been averaging only 57.8. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Eaglecrest was taken down by ThunderRidge 29-0 in their previous meeting back in September of 2021. Can Eaglecrest avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
