LaCrosse has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on The Hoxie Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Thursday, LaCrosse was fully in charge, breezing past Sublette 60-30 at home. LaCrosse pushed the score to 54-30 by the end of the third, a deficit Sublette had little chance of recovering from.
LaCrosse's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Caden Morgan, who rushed for 86 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 194 yards and four touchdowns while completing 72.2% of his passes. Conner Barriger made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Another reason for the win was LaCrosse's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Gage Burk and Barriger who racked up four sacks between them.
Meanwhile, Hoxie had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 35.2 points), and they went ahead and made it six last Thursday. They didn't even let Bennington onto the board and left with a 52-0 win. Given Hoxie's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked seventh, while Bennington is ranked 48th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Hoxie relied on the efforts of Braydon Scheetz, who gained 94 total yards and three touchdowns, and Duncan Bell, who threw for 75 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes.
Their wins bumped LaCrosse to 6-3 and Hoxie to 8-1.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. LaCrosse has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 164.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Hoxie struggles in that department as they've been even better at 168.2 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
LaCrosse took a serious blow against Hoxie when the teams last played back in September of 2021, falling 64-28. Can LaCrosse avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
