The East Butler Tigers will challenge the Mead Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Last Friday, East Butler had to suffer through a 42-12 loss at the hands of Shelby-Rising City. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska football rankings (they are ranked 63rd, while the Huskies are ranked 13th).
Despite the loss, East Butler saw an underclassman step up: Grant Kozisek picked up 54 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also threw for ten yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Mead was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat dating back to last season. They lost 50-30 to McCool Junction.
Mason Reed put forth a good effort for the losing side as he threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. A healthy portion of that aerial production (84 yards to be exact) went to Tony Engel.
East Butler's loss dropped their record down to 3-2. As for Mead, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-5.
Friday's contest might be decided in the trenches. East Butler has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 199.2 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Mead, though, as they've been averaging only 88. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Everything came up roses for East Butler against Mead in their previous matchup back in September of 2015, as the team secured a 62-22 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for East Butler since the squad 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
