Two dominant backs in Alex Werner and Elijah Bergstrom are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Mullen Broncos will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Axtell Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Mullen is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their contest at home on Thursday with ease, bagging a 78-12 victory over Bayard. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Broncos considering their six-point performance the game before.
Mullen got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Werner out in front who rushed for 186 yards and four touchdowns on only ten carries. Werner's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 106 rushing yards dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tate Kvanvig, who rushed for 96 yards and four touchdowns on only seven carries.
Mullen wouldn't let Bayard keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Mullen can thank Kvanvig and Cian Connealy for forcing both of them. Jason Kraus was another major factor on D, picking up 2.5 sacks and making ten total tackles.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Mullen was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 434 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Axtell had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.7 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They blew past the Flyers 60-28 at home. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by exactly 32 points.
Axtell had a senior duo take command as Bergstrom rushed for 284 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.8 yards per carry and Jacob Halvorsen rushed for 173 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries. With that strong performance, Halvorsen is now averaging an impressive 108.4 rushing yards per game.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Axtell's defense and their ten sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Caleb Kindschuh and Dominic Dejonge, who racked up five sacks between them.
Mullen pushed their record up to 6-2 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Axtell, the win got them back to even at 4-4.
Thursday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Mullen has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 264.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Axtell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 314.4. It's looking like Thursday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
