Sandhills/Thedford has gone 8-1 against Anselmo-Merna recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Knights will venture away from home to challenge the Coyotes at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Sandhills/Thedford is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They breezed past Winside to the tune of 46-12. The Knights pushed the score to 38-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Wildcats cut but never quite recovered from.
Maurice Robinson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 192 yards and three scores while picking up 9.1 yards per carry, and also throwing for 113 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, making three total tackles and defending two passes. Carter Anderson was another key player, gaining 93 total yards and two touchdowns.
Mason Cooksley
| 10/23/25 vs Winside | 6 |
| 10/16/25 @ Hyannis | 8 |
| 10/09/25 @ Mullen | 9 |
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Sandhills/Thedford's defense and their five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Mason Cooksley and Peyton Saner, who racked up four sacks between them. Cooksley is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made six or more in each of the last three games he's played.
Meanwhile, Anselmo-Merna came tearing into Thursday's game with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 34.5 points), and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Cougars 58-22. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 36-8.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Dane Duryea and Brady Hayes. Duryea had a great game and rushed for 209 yards and three TDs while picking up 8.7 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Hayes was balling out in the loss, throwing for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also rushing for 36 yards and one score.
Anselmo-Merna's victory bumped their record up to 8-1. As for Sandhills/Thedford, their win bumped their record up to 7-2.
Friday's matchup might be decided on the ground. Sandhills/Thedford has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 251.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Anselmo-Merna struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 250.6 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Sandhills/Thedford couldn't quite finish off Anselmo-Merna when the teams last played back in August and fell 36-34. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Duryea, who rushed for 283 yards and four TDs while picking up 7.9 yards per carry, and also threw for 57 yards and one touchdown. Now that the Knights know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
