The Smoky Valley Vikings will head out on the road to challenge the Hesston Swathers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 899 yards in their previous games.
Smoky Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took a 55-44 hit to the loss column at the hands of Trinity Academy on Friday. The Vikings have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Smoky Valley might have lost, but man, Gavin Stambaugh was a machine: he rushed for 262 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave Stambaugh a new career-high in rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Ezekiel Baker, who rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Smoky Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 364 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 191 rushing yards in seven consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Hesston put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They took their game on the road with ease, bagging a 53-6 win over Nickerson. That 47 point margin sets a new team best for the Swathers this season.
Jerick Humphreys looked great while leading his team to the win, throwing for 173 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 passes.
Smoky Valley's loss dropped their record down to 1-3. As for Hesston, they pushed their record up to 4-0 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Smoky Valley has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 270.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Hesston struggles in that department as they've been averaging 192.2. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Smoky Valley was taken down by Hesston 35-8 in their previous meeting back in September of 2019. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Smoky Valley was down 20-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
