The Eaglecrest Raptors are taking a road trip to take on the Smoky Hill Buffaloes at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Eaglecrest's defense has only allowed 11.6 points per game this season, so Smoky Hill's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Last Thursday, Eaglecrest strolled past ThunderRidge with points to spare, taking the game 26-8. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Raptors.
A big part of Eaglecrest's victory came down to the chemistry between Joe Steiner and his top target Burke Withycombe. Steiner gained 336 total yards while Withycombe gained 190 total yards and two touchdowns. Withycombe showed off some serious burst, connecting on a big catch for 53 yards. Kota Becker also helped with two touchdowns in total.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Eaglecrest's defense and their five sacks. In that department, T'Mario Walter was the leader with 2.5. Another thorn in ThunderRidge's side was Ramadje Owens, who picked up a sack, made eight total tackles (1.5 for loss), and defended a pass.
Meanwhile, Smoky Hill was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their 12th straight loss dating back to last season. They had to suffer through a 56-0 loss at the hands of Fairview. While losing is never fun, the Buffaloes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado football rankings (they are ranked 148th, while the Knights are ranked tenth).
Eaglecrest's win bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Smoky Hill, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-5.
Everything came up roses for Eaglecrest against Smoky Hill in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, as the team secured a 55-14 victory. In that match, Eaglecrest amassed a halftime lead of 34-14, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Saturday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
