The Ellis Railroaders will take on the Wichita County Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Ellis is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Ness City 66-20 at home on Friday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
It was another big night for Trenton Schartz, who rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries, and also threw for 98 yards and two touchdowns. His longest rush was for an impressive 51 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Austin Lopeman got in on the action too, returning a kick for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Wichita County had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 59 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Bulldogs 62-0 on the road. Given the Indians' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked 11th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 100th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Wichita County got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Khris Hermosillo out in front who rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns, and also picked up 42 receiving yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards Hermosillo has posted since back in November of 2023. Pablo Reyes was another key player, rushing for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
Wichita County didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Dylan Luna and Max Whitham.
Ellis has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. As for Wichita County, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-1.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Ellis has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 154.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Wichita County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 259. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Ellis against Wichita County when the teams last played back in October of 2015, as the team secured a 64-6 victory. In that contest, Ellis amassed a halftime lead of 26-6, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
