Two dominant backs in Josh Styles and Antuan Gardner are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Lake Catholic Cougars have the luxury of staying home another week and will welcome the McKinley Red Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on November 3rd. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Friday, Lake Catholic got the win against Field by a conclusive 38-14. Given Lake Catholic's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio football rankings (they are ranked 116th, while Field is ranked 411th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Styles was his usual excellent self, rushing for 127 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.9 yards per carry. Styles is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last five games he's played. Another player making a difference was Cross Nimmo, who picked up 56 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
McKinley fell on hard times earlier this season, but after back-to-back wins it seems like their luck might finally be changing. They took their game at home on Friday with ease, bagging a 65-28 victory over Edgewood. McKinley pushed the score to 59-28 by the end of the third, a deficit Edgewood had no chance of recovering from.
Gardner continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 471 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 16.2 yards per carry. Gardner hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for 11 straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of D'onte' Williams, who rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown.
Their wins bumped Lake Catholic to 9-2 and McKinley to 7-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's game: Lake Catholic has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 189.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like McKinley struggles in that department as they've been even better at 227.6 per game. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
