Mt. Zion had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They came out on top against the Normal University Pioneers by a score of 21-14 on Saturday. The win was familiar territory for the Braves who have now won seven matches in a row.
Brayden Trimble was his usual excellent self, rushing for 86 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries, while also catching a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in October of 2023.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Mt. Zion's defense and their 3.5 sacks. Kalvin Becker was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up two himself. He has been hot recently, having also posted five or more total tackles the last three times he's played.
Several Pioneers players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Cade Cunningham, who picked up 92 receiving yards and a touchdown. Normal University also got a significant boost from Alek Weiland, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 83 yards.
Mt. Zion's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-3. A key ingredient in that success has been their rushing production: they averaged an imposing 151 rushing yards in those games compared to only 151 in the others. As for Normal University, their defeat ended a ten-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 10-3.
Mt. Zion has already played their next contest, a 40-6 loss against DePaul College Prep on the 29th. Normal University does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
