The Marion Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the Cahokia Comanches at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Cahokia is hoping to do what Lighthouse Christian couldn't on Saturday: put an end to Marion's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Marion took their match at home with ease, bagging a 51-6 win over Lighthouse Christian. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Wildcats just coasted through the last quarter.
One reason for the win was Marion's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. In that department, Alex Henry was the leader with four.
Meanwhile, Cahokia got the win against Carbondale on Friday by a conclusive 44-21. Given the Comanches' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 106th, while the Terriers are ranked 230th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Cahokia to victory, but perhaps none more so than Zion Taylor, who threw for 382 yards and five touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes, and also punched in a rushing score. With that strong performance, Taylor is now averaging an impressive 310.5 passing yards per game. Omar Mims Jr was Taylor's top target, picking up 149 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Cahokia wouldn't let Carbondale keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Cahokia can thank Issac Phipps and Cornelius Griffin for forcing both of them. Phipps also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 20. Kindall Williams was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making 18 total tackles in addition to snagging an interception.
Marion's record now sits at 4-0. As for Cahokia, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 3-1.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Marion has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 184.3 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Cahokia has preferred to attack from the air: they average 330.2 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Marion lost to Cahokia on the road by a decisive 14-0 margin in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Can Marion avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps