Walnut Grove had won three straight home games and Cameron Newton did his part to make it four on Friday. The Walnut Grove Wildcats snuck past the Lovejoy Leopards with a 41-37 win thanks in part to Newton, who rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.2 yards per carry. He showed off some serious burst, turning on the afterburners on one carry for 51 yards.
Luke Watkins was another key player, picking up 212 receiving yards and a touchdown. His receiving production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 100 receiving yards.
Walnut Grove was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 261 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 174 rushing yards in 12 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Lovejoy's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jacob Richard Janecek, who threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 103 yards on only 14 carries. Richard Janecek is becoming a predictor of Lovejoy's success: when he posts at least 80 rushing yards the team is 4-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Ben Adams handled things on the ground, rushing for 127 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Walnut Grove's victory bumped their record up to 7-1. As for Lovejoy, they moved to 5-3 with that defeat, which also ended their five-game winning streak.
A feisty cat fight will be fought when Wildcats dukes it out withMelissa at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. They will need to watch out since Walnut Grove has now posted at least 31 points in their last five matches. As for Lovejoy, they will challenge Denison at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Lovejoy's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last six games.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
