After each having a week off, the Northern Highlands Highlanders and the Ridgewood Maroons will shake off the cobwebs and take on one another at 6:15 p.m. on Friday. Both have allowed few points on average, (Northern Highlands: 13.7, Ridgewood: 7.3) so any points scored will be well earned.
Northern Highlands' offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against NV - Old Tappan last Saturday. They were dealt a 27-0 defeat at the hands of the Golden Knights. The Highlanders haven't had much luck with the Golden Knights recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Ridgewood, who bounced back after a loss on the road back in September. Their defense stepped up to hand Hackensack an 18-0 shutout last Friday. Given the Maroons' advantage in MaxPreps' New Jersey football rankings (they are ranked 36th, while the Comets are ranked 159th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Colin Burns, who rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 102.2 rushing yards per game. Ridgewood also got a significant boost from Owen Laffey, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 104 yards.
Ridgewood didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as A.J. Caruso, Michael McKenna, and Quinn Conneen picked up one apiece.
Northern Highlands' loss ended a six-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 3-3. As for Ridgewood, their victory bumped their record up to 5-1.
Everything came up roses for Northern Highlands against Ridgewood when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 35-7 win. In that matchup, Northern Highlands amassed a halftime lead of 35-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
