After two games on the road, Howells-Dodge is heading back home. They will host the Elmwood-Murdock Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many points in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.
Howells-Dodge is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Archangels Catholic, who was ranked third in their home state at the time (Howells-Dodge was ranked 20th). Howells-Dodge took a blow against Archangels Catholic on Friday, falling 36-6. The match marked the Jaguars' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Meanwhile, Elmwood-Murdock came up short against Weeping Water on Thursday and fell 16-6. Despite 75 more yards than the Indians, the Knights couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
Elmwood-Murdock's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Dashiell Coleman, who rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown, and Brody Marsh, who rushed for 76 yards.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Elmwood-Murdock was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 204 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 204 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Howells-Dodge's loss ended a seven-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 6-2. As for Elmwood-Murdock, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.
Thursday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Howells-Dodge has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 290.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Elmwood-Murdock struggles in that department as they've been averaging 218.1. It's looking like Thursday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Howells-Dodge took their win against Elmwood-Murdock in their previous meeting back in October of 2021 by a conclusive 56-32. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Elmwood-Murdock's Cade Hosier, who rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.1 yards per carry, and also caught a touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be easier for Howells-Dodge to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
