The Meridian Hawks will head out on the road to take on the Blue Ridge Knights at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Blue Ridge took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Meridian, who comes in off a win.
Meridian is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Illinois' top teams: Unity Christian/Mt. Pulaski, who was ranked 16th at the time (Meridian was ranked 15th). The Hawks strolled past the Lions with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 34-20.
Among those leading the charge was Bryce Brown, who threw for 133 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 30 yards and one TD.
Jason O'Laughlin
| 10/10/25 vs Unity Christian/Mt. Pulaski | 10 |
| 10/04/25 @ Milford/Cissna Park | 14 |
| 09/27/25 vs Metro-East Lutheran | 7 |
Meridian didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Terry OLaughlin and Jason O'Laughlin. O'Laughlin has been hot recently, having also posted seven or more total tackles the last three times he's played. Another thorn in Unity Christian/Mt. Pulaski's side was Ted Jones, who picked up a sack and made ten total tackles.
Meanwhile, Blue Ridge was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They were beaten by Milford/Cissna Park 64-28. On the bright side, the 28- point effort marked the Knights' highest-scoring matchup to date.
Blue Ridge's loss dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Meridian, the victory was their first at home , bumping their record up to 2-5.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
