Two dominant backs in Terrence Pendergrass and Elijah Kimble are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. Francis Red Raiders will play host again and welcome the Canisius Crusaders, where kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the pair posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Two weeks ago, St. Francis narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past McDowell 34-31.
St. Francis can attribute much of their success to Landon Welka, who rushed for 34 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 167 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Canisius walked away with it. They claimed a resounding 42-0 win over St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute at home. Canisius might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won five matches by 23 points or more this season.
Canisius found their leader in underclassman Kimble, who rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries. Kimble is absolutely dominating the rushing yard category: he's posted at least 100 every time he's taken the field this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Amir Hernandez, who rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown.
The team's defense also helped out by holding St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute to a paltry 121 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Canisius' ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out five times before it was all said and done. Amare Wallace was especially locked on to St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute's QB and sacked him twice.
St. Francis has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 4-5 record this season. As for Canisius, they have yet to lose a match at home this season, leaving them with a 5-5 record.
St. Francis strolled past Canisius when the teams last played back in October by a score of 41-24. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Canisius' Kimble, who rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will St. Francis still be able to contain him? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
