The North Central Knights will venture away from home to take on the St. Mary's Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. North Central is looking for their season's first victory.
North Central is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Ainsworth on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. North Central was outmatched by Ainsworth at home and fell 70-30. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska football rankings (they are ranked 135th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 43rd).
Despite the defeat, North Central got top-tier performance from Atwood Albrecht, who picked up 60 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, St. Mary's can finally bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Friday. They took their match on the road with ease, bagging a 68-28 win over Elgin/Pope John.
Gage Hedstrom continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 140 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries, while also throwing for 136 yards and three touchdowns on only eight passes. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 119 rushing yards dating back to last season. Ben Barlow was another key player, picking up 110 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
St. Mary's didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Barlow and Hedstrom. Barlow is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, St. Mary's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 224 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 156 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups.
North Central's loss dropped their record down to 0-6. As for St. Mary's, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.
Everything came up roses for North Central against St. Mary's when the teams last played back in October of 2017, as the squad secured a 60-14 win. In that contest, North Central amassed a halftime lead of 34-6, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
