The Independence Knights will challenge the Walnut Grove Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Independence has struggled recently with 14 losses in a row, while Walnut Grove will arrive with nine straight victories.
Independence's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Emerson on Thursday. They had to suffer through a 62-0 loss at the hands of the Mavericks. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 941st, while the Mavericks are ranked 294th).
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Walnut Grove took on Melissa on Friday. The Wildcats narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Cardinals 38-35. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by exactly three points.
Independence better keep an eye on Cameron Newton. He was instrumental in Walnut Grove's win, rushing for 172 yards and four touchdowns. Newton has been hot for a while, having posted two or more rushing touchdowns the last ten times he's played. Another player making a difference was Hayes Hackney, who threw for 207 yards and one TD while completing 72.7% of his passes.
Walnut Grove's victory bumped their record up to 9-0. As for Independence, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-9.
Independence was taken down by Walnut Grove 64-33 in their previous meeting back in November of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Knights were down 57-20.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
