The Goddard Lions will square off against the Maize South Mavericks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Maize South is facing Goddard at the wrong time: Goddard suffered their first home loss of the season on Friday and they're likely out for redemption. They took a hard 35-21 fall against the Mustangs.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Erik Olivas and Cooper Reves. Reves had a great game and rushed for 244 yards and two TDs while picking up 7.9 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Olivas was balling out in the loss, picking up 73 receiving yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 75 yards.
Meanwhile, Maize South ended up a good deal behind Hutchinson on Friday and lost 47-28. While the Mavericks had to settle for second, they closed the game well in the third quarter, where they outscored the Salthawks 14-7.
Goddard will have to keep a close watch on Stratten Ebers and Reign Illian, a pair of players who had a big impact on Maize South's prior game. Ebers picked up 145 receiving yards and a pair of scores, while Illian threw for 315 yards and three TDs. Ebers showed off some serious burst, cutting upfield on a catch for 63 yards.
The loss was their first at home , dropping their record down to 5-3. As for Maize South, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.
Thursday's contest might be decided in the trenches. Goddard has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 220.6 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Maize South, though, as they've been averaging only 91 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Goddard might still be hurting after the 42-21 loss they got from Maize South in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Lions were down 28-8.
