Two dominant signal callers in Gary Merrill and Rich Belin are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. Anthony's Friars will head out to challenge the Cardinal Hayes Cardinals at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in St. Anthony's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last six matches.
If St. Anthony's beats Cardinal Hayes with 34 points on Saturday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. St. Anthony's enjoyed a cozy 34-20 win over Kellenberg Memorial on Friday. Given the Friars' advantage in MaxPreps' New York football rankings (they are ranked eighth, while the Firebirds are ranked 51st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Merrill, who rushed for 225 yards and five touchdowns on only 12 carries. His rushing production has been exceptional as that marked his seventh straight game with at least 116 rushing yards.
St. Anthony's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 287 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 174 rushing yards in eight consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Hayes made easy work of Archbishop Stepinac on Saturday and carried off a 24-3 victory. Considering the Cardinals have won three games by more than 19 points this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
St. Anthony's is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season. As for Cardinal Hayes, they pushed their record up to 6-2 with the win, which was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season.
St. Anthony's was taken down by Cardinal Hayes 42-14 in their previous meeting back in November of 2023. Thankfully for St. Anthony's, Kenneth Antoine (who rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
