Savannah has won three straight games at home, while St. Pius X has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Savannah Savages will welcome the St. Pius X Warriors at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Savannah will bounce into Friday's game after beating Maryville, who they had gone 0-9 against in their nine prior meetings. Savannah breezed by Maryville at home to the tune of 42-14 on Friday.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Savannah to victory, but perhaps none more so than Aiden Knechtenhofer, who threw for 142 yards and three touchdowns while completing 77.8% of his passes, and also rushed for 35 yards and a touchdown. Jaiden Martinez was Knechtenhofer's top target, picking up 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 43 yards.
Savannah wouldn't let Maryville keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Savannah can thank Gage Bowland and Kale Bechtold for forcing both of them. Bowland is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made six or more in the last eight games he's played dating back to last season. Landon Noland was another major factor on D, making 14 total tackles and defending a pass.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Savannah was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 207 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 207 rushing yards in five consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask St. Pius X). They blew past Lafayette 74-0 at home on Friday. Given the Warriors' advantage in MaxPreps' Missouri football rankings (they are ranked 20th, while the Fighting Irish are ranked 239th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
St. Pius X's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Cannon Cruse, who rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries. Cruse's longest rush was for an impressive 52 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. The team also got some help courtesy of Larry Cascone, who rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries.
Savannah's win bumped their record up to 6-2. As for St. Pius X, their victory bumped their record up to 7-1.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Savannah has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 228.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like St. Pius X struggles in that department as they've been averaging 202. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Savannah might still be hurting after the 34-13 loss they got from St. Pius X in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. Will Savannah have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
