Columbia City is 1-9 against East Noble since October of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Columbia City Eagles will take on the East Noble Knights at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Columbia City sitting on six straight wins and East Noble on four.
Columbia City's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They took their matchup at home with ease, bagging a 70-0 victory over New Haven. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 31st, while the Bulldogs are ranked 201st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Columbia City can attribute much of their success to Landon Fazio, who rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on only five carries, and Gabe Mcdevitt, who rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown. Fazio's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 105 rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Columbia City was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 338 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 173 rushing yards in nine consecutive games dating back to last season.
Columbia City's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. Gavin Smith led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself. Columbia City got some further help from Owen Love: he made eight total tackles (5.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, East Noble was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Norwell 42-0 at home. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as East Noble just coasted through the last quarter.
It was another big night for Dylan Krehl, who rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.8 yards per carry. East Noble also got help from Mason Treesh, who showed off his sure hands for 107 receiving yards.
Columbia City pushed their record up to 6-0 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. As for East Noble, their record is now 5-1.
Friday's contest will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Fazio and Krehl. Fazio has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 92.3 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Krehl has averaged 132 rushing yards per game this season.
Columbia City was taken down by East Noble 35-0 in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. Can Columbia City avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
