Football Preview: Shepard Astros vs. Blue Island Eisenhower Cardinals
The Shepard Astros will venture away from home to square off against the Blue Island Eisenhower Cardinals at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Shepard is looking to tack on another W to their four-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Shepard's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They really took it to Reavis for the full four quarters, racking up a 57-0 victory on the road. The game marked the Astros' most dominant win of the season.
Noah Vaughn was his usual excellent self, rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Shepard is undefeated when Vaughn posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise. Cameren Tryon was Vaughn's top target, picking up 32 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 48 yards and a touchdown.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Shepard was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 237 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 206 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Shepard didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Elijah Hayes and Krystian Koscak.
Meanwhile, a victory for Blue Island Eisenhower just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the squad wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They lost 42-17 to Hillcrest. The Cardinals' defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Shepard's win bumped their record up to 6-2. As for Blue Island Eisenhower, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.
Shepard lost to Blue Island Eisenhower on the road by a decisive 21-7 margin when the teams last played back in September of 2023. Can Shepard avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
