Two dominant backs in Kaya Madhlazi and Texas Wilde are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Layton Christian Academy Eagles will take on the Judge Memorial Catholic Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Layton Christian Academy will bounce into Friday's game after beating South Summit, who they hadn't topped in four consecutive meetings. Layton Christian Academy blew past South Summit, posting a 45-14 victory at home. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Eagles.
Madhlazi continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 198 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 12.4 yards per carry. He is becoming a predictor of Layton Christian Academy's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 2-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Brayden Bott got in on the action as well, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Layton Christian Academy was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 258 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 0 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three matches they've averaged 185.
One reason for the win was Layton Christian Academy's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for eight sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Iverson Report and Emili Pauni, who racked up six sacks between them. Report has been hot recently, having also posted six or more total tackles the last four times he's played. Layton Christian Academy got some further help from Penisoni Talanoa (Sonny): he forced a fumble, made four total tackles (3.0 for loss), and made four total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Judge Memorial Catholic). They claimed a resounding 56-6 win over Providence Hall on the road. The Bulldogs pushed the score to 56-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Patriots cut but never quite recovered from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Judge Memorial Catholic to victory, but perhaps none more so than Wilde, who rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Taki Tonga, who rushed for 56 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries.
Judge Memorial Catholic's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged five passes before it was all said and done. Red Fuller led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself.
The victory got Layton Christian Academy back to even at 3-3. As for Judge Memorial Catholic, their win ended an eight-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-4.
Everything came up roses for Layton Christian Academy against Judge Memorial Catholic in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, as the squad secured a 56-6 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Layton Christian Academy since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
