The St. Mary's Cardinals will face off against the Cambridge Trojans at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. St. Mary's knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past eight matches -- so hopefully Cambridge likes a good challenge.
St. Mary's is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Neligh-Oakdale 70-14 on the road on Friday. Considering the Cardinals have won four contests by more than 39 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
It was another big night for Gage Hedstrom, who rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries, and also threw for 146 yards and four touchdowns. His longest rush was for an impressive 58 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Another player making a difference was Jace Rosenkrans, who rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: St. Mary's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 258 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 156 rushing yards in eight consecutive games.
St. Mary's didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off six passes before the game was over. It was a group effort, with six picking up one apiece. Hedstrom is also on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Cambridge fell victim to Hitchcock County and their airtight defense on Thursday. They were beaten by the Falcons 34-0. Having soared to a lofty 32 points in the game before, the Trojans' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
St. Mary's win bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Cambridge, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-4 record this season.
Thursday's match might be decided in the on the ground. St. Mary's has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 216 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Cambridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 208.4. It's looking like Thursday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
