Thomas More Prep-Marian is 0-9 against Norton since October of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Thomas More Prep-Marian Monarchs will look to take advantage of their home-field for the first time this season as they take on the Norton Bluejays at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Thomas More Prep-Marian is coming home in high spirits after they had to open their season on the road against Russell. Thomas More Prep-Marian slipped by Russell 7-6 on Friday.
Meanwhile, Norton took care of business in their home opener on Friday (and then some). They blew past Oakley 55-8 at home. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 36-0.
Norton's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Eli Jones, who rushed for 44 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 86 yards and a touchdown. Jones also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, making three total tackles (2.0 for loss) and defending a pass in addition to snagging two interceptions which he returned one-yard for a touchdown. Brennen Pfannenstiel was another key player, rushing for 88 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries.
Norton's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. Jones picked up that interception and then proceeded to rub salt in the wound by taking it back the other way for a touchdown. He is also on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Norton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 244 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Oakley only rushed for 120.
Thomas More Prep-Marian came up short against Norton in their previous meeting back in November of 2023, falling 18-6. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Jones, who rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.3 yards per carry. Now that Thomas More Prep-Marian knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
