The King/Drew Golden Eagles will take on the Franklin Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but King/Drew had no problem doing just that on Friday. They managed a 36-30 victory over Hamilton. The high flying offensive effort was a huge turnaround for King/Drew's 12-point performance the contest before.
Keenan Jackson was the offensive standout of the game as he rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 180 yards and a touchdown. DeWayne Byrdsong was another key contributor, gaining 93 total yards and a touchdown.
Another reason for the win was King/Drew's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Preston Banks and Chinedu Onyeagoro who racked up four sacks between them.
Meanwhile, Franklin entered their tilt with Manual Arts with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. Franklin was the clear victor by a 41-16 margin over Manual Arts. The result was nothing new for Franklin, who have now won seven matches by 20 points or more so far this season.
It was another big night for Benjamin Villareal, who rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries. Another player making a difference was Eduardo Cuevas, who threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes.
King/Drew has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 4-7 record this season. As for Franklin, their win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-2-1.
