Derby has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against the Manhattan Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Derby is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They breezed by East to the tune of 63-28. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked third, while the Aces are ranked 39th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Derby found their leader in sophomore Arieus Finley, who rushed for 177 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry. Those four rushing touchdowns set a new season-high mark for Finley. The team also got some help courtesy of Drew Kemp, who threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes.
Meanwhile, Manhattan put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They blew past Northwest 49-28. 49 seems to be a good number for the Indians as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Carter Aslin and Jaylen Mason. Aslin had a great game and gained 469 total yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Mason was balling out in the loss, throwing for 283 yards and four touchdowns on only 15 passes.
Manhattan wouldn't let Northwest keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Manhattan can thank Logan Lagerman and Colby Altevogt for forcing both of them.
Derby's victory was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-0. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.5 points per game. As for Manhattan, their win bumped their record up to 11-0.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Derby has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 251.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Manhattan struggles in that department as they've been averaging 269.7. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Derby skirted past Manhattan 23-21 when the teams last played back in November of 2023. Does Derby have another victory up their sleeve, or will Manhattan turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
