The Bellevue West Thunderbirds will head out on the road to face off against the Papillion-LaVista Monarchs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Bellevue West comes in on four and Papillion-LaVista on six.
Bellevue West put the finishing touches on their third blowout victory of the season on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 49-28 margin over Papillion-LaVista South. Bellevue West pushed the score to 42-14 by the end of the third, a deficit Papillion-LaVista South cut but never quite recovered from.
Cj Gauff was a one-man wrecking crew for Bellevue West as he rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns on only 15 carries. Gauff was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 60 yards. Isaiah Mcmorris did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 103 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Papillion-LaVista stacked a sixth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They breezed by North Platte at home to the tune of 41-0. Given Papillion-LaVista's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska football rankings (they are ranked 11th, while North Platte is ranked 73rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Payton Prestito and Isaac Pamaran were among the main playmakers for Papillion-LaVista as the former rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns and the latter picked up 96 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Bellevue West's victory was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 6-3. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 46.5 points per game. As for Papillion-LaVista, their victory bumped their record up to 8-1.
Everything came up roses for Bellevue West against Papillion-LaVista in their previous meeting back in October of 2021 as the squad secured a 63-26 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bellevue West since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
