Football Preview: Holy Cross Knights vs. First Baptist Saints
Two dominant signal callers in Gibby Alvarado and Quincy Rheams are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Holy Cross Knights will square off against the First Baptist Saints at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Holy Cross' defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They blew past John Paul II, posting a 62-0 victory at home. That looming 62-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Knights yet this season.
Alvarado continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 157 yards and three touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes, and also rushing for 35 yards. He is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Holy Cross didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Patrick Ortiz and Nicholas Hall.
Meanwhile, First Baptist put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Live Oak Classical 50-21 at home. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 42-14.
A big part of First Baptist's win came down to the chemistry between Rheams and his top target Dylan Jones. Rheams rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries while Jones threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns on only 19 passes. Bradlee Mays also helped out as he racked up 138 receiving yards.
Holy Cross pushed their record up to 7-0 with the victory, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. As for First Baptist, their win bumped their record up to an identical 7-0.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Holy Cross has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 199.3 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, First Baptist has preferred to attack from the air: they average 345.1 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
