The Little River Redskins had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 48 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They snuck past Goessel with a 30-26 win. Given Little River's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked 19th, while Goessel is ranked 63rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Andrew Smith, who rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 11.4 yards per carry. Smith is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last five games he's played. Carter Stansbury also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
When it comes to explaining why Goessel lost, one person who can't be blamed is Noah Schrag. Despite the final result, he threw for 124 yards and two touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground.
Little River's victory was their third straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 7-2. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-8 Goessel and 1-7-1 Pretty Prairie (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 27.8% over those games). As for Goessel, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-8.
Little River will be playing in front of their home fans against Oxford at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. As for Goessel, they will head out on the road to face off against Central at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Central knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven matchups -- so hopefully Goessel likes a good challenge.
