Two dominant backs in Terrence Pendergrass and Elijah Kimble are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. Francis Red Raiders will be playing at home against the Canisius Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
St. Francis is ranked highly in their home state, and on Saturday they took on another highly ranked team in the form of Archbishop Hoban. The contest between the two teams wasn't particularly close, with St. Francis falling 28-13.
Even though the team lost, they still came through with several impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Jeremiah Neely, who picked up 39 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Canisius' good fortune finally ran out on Friday. The contest between Canisius and Lancaster wasn't particularly close, with Canisius falling 28-13.
Despite the loss, Canisius saw an underclassman step up: Kimble rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.7 yards per carry. Kimble is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last four games he's played.
St. Francis' defeat dropped their record down to 2-5. As for Canisius, they now have a losing record at 3-4.
Saturday's game might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. St. Francis has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 164.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Canisius struggles in that department as they've been even better at 214 per game. It's looking like Saturday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for St. Francis against Canisius when the teams last played back in November of 2022 as the team secured a 50-20 win. Will St. Francis repeat their success, or does Canisius have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
