Northwestern is on a six-game streak of home wins, while West Lafayette is on a nine-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. The Northwestern Tigers will welcome the West Lafayette Red Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Northwestern is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Benton Central 49-12. The matchup marked the Tigers' most dominant win of the season.
Brock Shank continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 241 yards and five touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes. He has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last four times he's played. Hayden Cook was another key player, picking up 83 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Northwestern didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Taylor Mckillip and Sam Jones.
Meanwhile, West Lafayette humbled Frankton with a 49-7 victory. Given the Red Devils' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 90th, while the Eagles are ranked 224th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Dawson Martin and Nate Luzadder. Martin had a great game and gained 104 total yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Luzadder did his best for the losing side, rushing for 86 yards, while also picking up 44 receiving yards.
West Lafayette was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 226 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in nine consecutive contests.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to West Lafayette's defense and their five sacks. David Curl III was especially locked on to Frankton's QB and sacked him three times.
Northwestern's victory bumped their record up to 9-1. As for West Lafayette, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Northwestern has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 341.1 passing yards per game. West Lafayette, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 198.3 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Northwestern took a serious blow against West Lafayette in their previous meeting back in October of 2016, falling 51-22. Thankfully for Northwestern, Mikey Kidwell (who rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries, and also threw for 204 yards and three touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
