Andover Central has gone 7-1 against Valley Center recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Andover Central Jaguars will take on the Valley Center Hornets at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Andover Central has three straight wins, Valley Center has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Friday, Andover Central was fully in charge, breezing past Arkansas City 56-17 at home. Given the Jaguars' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Bulldogs are ranked 113th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Maddox Archibald was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries, and also picked up 72 receiving yards and a touchdown. He torched the secondary when he pulled down a catch that went for 72 yards. Another player making a difference was Jace Jefferson, who threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per attempt.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Andover Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 336 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 165 rushing yards in three consecutive matches.
Andover Central's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Carter Inslee.
Meanwhile, Valley Center didn't have quite enough to beat Maize South on Friday and fell 10-7.
Valley Center wouldn't let Maize South keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Valley Center can thank Braxton Moody and Steel Schomaker for forcing both of them. Schomaker is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season.
Andover Central's victory was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-0. As for Valley Center, their loss dropped their record down to 0-3.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. Andover Central has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 224.7 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Valley Center, though, as they've been averaging only 68. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Everything went Andover Central's way against Valley Center in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, as Andover Central made off with a 35-13 win. Will Andover Central repeat their success, or does Valley Center have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
