The East Butler Tigers will face off against the Heartland Huskies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. East Butler will be strutting in after a victory while Heartland will be coming in after a defeat.
East Butler 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 took down Mead 40-26. The high-scoring effort was just what the Tigers needed considering they were shut out in their previous contest.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Grant Kozisek and Mason Reed. Kozisek had a great game and rushed for 316 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 9.6 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Reed was balling out in the loss, throwing for 254 yards and three TDs, while also rushing for 58 yards and one score.
Grant Kozisek
| 10/03/25 vs Mead | 5 |
| 08/29/25 vs Nebraska Lutheran | 3 |
| 09/12/25 vs Omaha Christian | 2 |
| 09/19/25 @ McCool Junction | 1 |
| 09/05/25 @ Guardian Angels Central Catholic | 1 |
East Butler didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Kozisek and Devon Prochaska. Kozisek also punched in five rushing touchdowns, which is notable because East Butler is undefeated when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise.
Meanwhile, Heartland played a tough game on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were dealt a 64-24 loss at the hands of McCool Junction. The Huskies were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 52-8.
East Butler will have to contain Nevada Gloystein as he made an impact in Heartland's last game. He rushed for 106 yards and one touchdown, and also picked up 39 receiving yards and one TD.
East Butler pushed their record up to 4-2 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to yards per carry: they averaged an imposing 8.15 yards per carry in those games compared to only 3.27 in the others. As for Heartland, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-5.
Everything came up roses for East Butler against Heartland in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, as the team secured a 62-24 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Huskies' Carter Siebert, who rushed for 119 yards and one score, and also picked up 101 receiving yards and one touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for the Tigers to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
