Football Preview: Maxwell Wildcats vs. Sandhills/Thedford Knights
Maxwell is 0-6 against Sandhills/Thedford since November of 2015 but things could change on Thursday. The Maxwell Wildcats will face off against the Sandhills/Thedford Knights. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Thursday, Maxwell humbled Brady with a 58-28 victory. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.
Maxwell's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Kole Jones, who rushed for 172 yards and four touchdowns on only eight carries. The dominant performance gave Jones a new career-high in rushing yards. Jesse Reyes was another key player, rushing for 196 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries.
Maxwell didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Christopher Mckeeman and Cole Huffman. Colt Gosnell was another major factor on D, picking up a sack, forcing a fumble, and making eight total tackles (6.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Maxwell was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 433 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 294 rushing yards in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Sandhills/Thedford put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They claimed a resounding 76-14 victory over Hyannis at home. 76 seems to be a good number for the Knights as the team scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
Kyle Cox was his usual excellent self, rushing for 184 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.5 yards per carry, and also throwing for 72 yards and two touchdowns. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his 21st straight game with at least 119 rushing yards dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Carson Cooksley, who gained 69 total yards and three touchdowns.
Sandhills/Thedford wouldn't let Hyannis keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Sandhills/Thedford can thank Cooksley and Caden Zutavern for forcing both of them.
The victory got Maxwell back to even at 4-4. As for Sandhills/Thedford, they pushed their record up to 8-0 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season.
Thursday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Maxwell has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 277.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Sandhills/Thedford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 275.5. It's looking like Thursday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Maxwell was dealt a bruising 61-14 defeat at the hands of Sandhills/Thedford in their previous meeting back in September. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cox, who rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries, and also threw for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Now that Maxwell knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
