Two dominant backs in Kendrick Hawkins JR and Jaxon Hicks are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Blue Springs South Jaguars will head out to challenge the Liberty Blue Jays at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that both suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Blue Springs South is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Missouri's top teams: Lee's Summit North, who was ranked first in their home state at the time (Blue Springs South was ranked sixth). Blue Springs South fell 36-28 to Lee's Summit North on Friday. The Jaguars have struggled against the Broncos recently, as their game on Friday was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.
Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 7-7 at halftime, Liberty was not quite Park Hill's equal in the second half on Friday. They took a 21-17 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Trojans. The Blue Jays' loss signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.
Despite the defeat, Liberty had strong showings from Connor Hatfield, who rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries, and Hicks, who rushed for 180 yards and a touchdown. Hicks' longest rush was for an impressive 69 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
Even though they lost, Liberty was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 338 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 208 rushing yards in six consecutive games.
Blue Springs South's loss dropped their record down to 4-2. As for Liberty, their defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 4-2.
Things could have been worse for Blue Springs South, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 42-28 loss to Liberty when the teams last played back in November of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hicks, who rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.3 yards per carry, and also threw for five yards and a touchdown. Now that Blue Springs South knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
