Firelands has played every game this season on their home field, but they'll have to hit the road on Friday. They are headed away from home for the first time to face off against the Columbia Raiders at 7:00 p.m.
Firelands' offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Poland Seminary on Friday. They took a 19-0 bruising from the Bulldogs. That's two games in a row now that the Falcons have lost by exactly 19 points.
Meanwhile, Columbia really took it to Northwestern for the full four quarters, racking up a 43-13 victory on the road. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Raiders had established a 22 point advantage.
Jimmy Stofey was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. The dominant performance gave him a new career- in rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Columbia was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 333 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 221 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Columbia wouldn't let Northwestern keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Justin Smith was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance. He didn't just play on offense: he also picked up 1.5 sacks, forced two fumbles, and made five total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Firelands' loss was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 0-3. As for Columbia, they now have a winning record of 2-1.
Firelands lost to Columbia on the road by a decisive 21-7 margin in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. Thankfully for Firelands, Marco Cirigliano (who rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
