Football Game Preview: Clearwater/Orchard vs. Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing

If the MaxPreps national rankings hold true, the near future looks bright for Clearwater/Orchard. On Thursday they will take on Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing at 3:00 PM. Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing will need to watch out since Clearwater/Orchard have now posted big point totals in their last seven contests.

Clearwater/Orchard put the finishing touches on their 6th blowout victory of the season last Thursday. Everything came up roses for them against St. Mary's as the team secured a 54-8 win. Senior Chris Kester, who threw 4 TDs and picked up 51 yards on the ground, was a major factor in Clearwater/Orchard's success. If you haven't heard Kester's name lately, then you haven't been paying much attention: he has loomed large in their past seven games.

Meanwhile, we expected Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing to have trouble with the significantly higher-ranked Central Valley, and they did. Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing ended up on the wrong side of a painful 12-40 walloping at Central Valley's hands. Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing were down by 12-34 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Clearwater/Orchard's victory lifted them to 6-1 while Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing's defeat dropped them down to 3-4. With four turnovers, Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing had trouble holding onto the ball. We'll see if Clearwater/Orchard exploit that vulnerability.