The Northeast Vikings will head out on the road to face off against the Jesuit Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Northeast comes in on five and Jesuit on eight.
With a playoff game on the line, Northeast rose to the challenge on Friday. In a tight matchup that could have gone either way, they made off with a 27-26 win over Hillsborough.
Northeast can attribute much of their success to Javeyon Mckenzie, who picked up 162 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and Trey Whirley, who threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Jesuit put the finishing touches on their fourth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They claimed a resounding 40-7 victory over Pinellas Park at home. Given Jesuit's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while Pinellas Park is ranked 189th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jesuit's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was S.J. Green, who picked up 65 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Mikey Vernon made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Another reason for the win was Jesuit's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Zach Quinn and Peter Pesansky who racked up four sacks between them.
Northeast pushed their record up to 8-3 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 40.5 points per game. As for Jesuit, their victory bumped their record up to 9-2.
