The St. Joseph-Ogden Spartans will face off against the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. St. Joseph-Ogden will be coming into the game with an undefeated record on the line.
St. Joseph-Ogden's defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They breezed by Rantoul on the road to the tune of 53-0. That 53 point margin sets a new team best for the Spartans this season.
KODEY MCKINNEY continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 212 yards and four touchdowns while completing 90% of his passes. He has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Tim Blackburn-Kelley, who gained 86 total yards and two touchdowns.
St. Joseph-Ogden didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Colin Thome and Hunter Van Meenen.
Despite a strong season so far, Paxton-Buckley-Loda has seen their luck take a bit of a downturn recently. They were dealt a 56-6 defeat at the hands of Tolono Unity on Friday. That makes it the first time this season the Panthers have let down their home crowd.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Robert Boyd-Meents, who rushed for 100 yards on only ten carries.
St. Joseph-Ogden pushed their record up to 8-0 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. As for Paxton-Buckley-Loda, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-2.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. St. Joseph-Ogden has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 149.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Paxton-Buckley-Loda struggles in that department as they've been averaging 191.6. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for St. Joseph-Ogden against Paxton-Buckley-Loda in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, as the team secured a 50-21 win. Will St. Joseph-Ogden repeat their success, or does Paxton-Buckley-Loda have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
