Football Preview: Lovejoy Wildcats vs. Woodward Academy War Eagles
The Lovejoy Wildcats are taking a road trip to take on the Woodward Academy War Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Lovejoy took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They came out on top against Morrow by a score of 14-7.
Meanwhile, Woodward Academy had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 29.7 points) and they went ahead and made it seven last Friday. They took their matchup with ease, bagging a 50-0 win over the Vikings. Considering the War Eagles have won six matches by more than 20 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
It was another big night for Landon Walker, who rushed for 57 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 187 yards and a touchdown while completing 83.3% of his passes. He has become a key player for Woodward Academy: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 2-3 otherwise. Zaydn Young did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 92 receiving yards.
Special teams also deserves some recognition, posting 14 points in total. All came courtesy of Afton Rowles: he went 3-for-3 kicking field goals for nine points, and 5-for-5 kicking extra points for an additional five.
Woodward Academy's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-3. Those victories were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 7.0 points per game. As for Lovejoy, the win got them back to even at 5-5.
Lovejoy might still be hurting after the 31-7 loss they got from Woodward Academy when the teams last played back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Walker, who threw for 168 yards and three touchdowns while completing 81.3% of his passes, and also rushed for 32 yards. Now that Lovejoy 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
