Western hasn't had much luck against West Lafayette recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Western Panthers will look to defend their home field against the West Lafayette Red Devils at 7:00 p.m. 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.
Western is headed into Friday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their seventh straight game dating back to last season on Friday. They lost to Hamilton Heights on the road by a 21-6 margin.
Despite the defeat, Western had strong showings from Levi Shoemaker, who rushed for 114 yards, and Cameron Hobensack, who rushed for 17 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave Shoemaker a new career-high in rushing yards.
Meanwhile, West Lafayette unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak last Friday. They took a 12-7 hit to the loss column at the hands of Lafayette Central Catholic. The match marked the Red Devils' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
West Lafayette's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Kojo Steffey, who gained 116 total yards and a touchdown, and Dawson Martin, who rushed for 131 yards. That high mark didn't come from nowhere: Martin posted at least 131 rushing yards in the third games prior.
Western's defeat dropped their record down to 0-5. As for West Lafayette, their loss dropped their record down to 3-2.
Western was taken down by West Lafayette 43-6 in their previous meeting back in October of 2022. Can Western avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
