The Montague Wildcats will challenge the Manistee Chippewas at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Montague is no doubt hoping to put an end to a five-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Montague is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They snuck past Fremont with a 70-64 victory on Friday. With that win, the Wildcats brought their scoring average up to 27.9 points per game.
Devlin Dean was his usual excellent self, rushing for 335 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 8.6 yards per carry. He showed off some serious burst, turning on the afterburners on one carry for 69 yards. Cooper Bradley got in on the action too, returning a kick for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Manistee at home against Shelby on Friday as the team secured a 62-14 victory. That 48 point margin sets a new team best for the Chippewas this season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Manistee was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 366 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 163 rushing yards in 13 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Manistee wouldn't let Shelby keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Manistee can thank Landin Sowa and Ean Guenthardt for forcing both of them. Sowa also punched in two rushing touchdowns, which is notable because Manistee is undefeated when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-3 otherwise.
With the win, Montague broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 3-4. As for Manistee, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Montague has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 194 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Manistee struggles in that department as they've been averaging 291.6. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Montague came out on top in a nail-biter against Manistee when the teams last played back in October of 2023, sneaking past 24-22. The rematch might be a little tougher for Montague since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
