The East Central Trojans will head out to square off against the Roncalli Royals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
East Central's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They really took it to Greensburg for the full four quarters, racking up a 61-0 victory. The win was nothing new for the Trojans as they're now sitting on five straight.
Special teams played a big role in the game for East Central, adding 13 points to the final score. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Noah Long, who ran a punt back for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Roncalli). They blew past Harrison 57-20 on Friday. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 36-7.
Roncalli's win came from a few key players East Central will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Alex Jarvis, who rushed for 146 yards and three scores while picking up 7.7 yards per carry, and also picked up 63 receiving yards. Those 146 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Caleb Maurer also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Roncalli was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 262 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Harrison only rushed for 132.
Roncalli's victory bumped their record up to 5-3. As for East Central, their win bumped their record up to 7-1.
Friday's matchup might be decided on the ground. East Central has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 266.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Roncalli struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 183.4 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
East Central came up short against Roncalli when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 17-7. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Royals' Zach Dozier, who rushed for 89 yards and a pair of TDs. Now that the Trojans know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
