The Walnut Grove Wildcats will face off against the Lovejoy Leopards at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Walnut Grove is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Anna just ended the team's seven-game winning streak dating back to last season on Friday. They received a blow as they fell 55-41 to the Coyotes. The loss put an end to the Wildcats' undefeated start to the season.
Walnut Grove might have lost, but man, Cameron Newton was a machine: he rushed for 265 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 9.8 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave Newton a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Luke Watkins, who picked up 158 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Even though they lost, Walnut Grove was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 298 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 174 rushing yards in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Lovejoy waltzed into their match on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Mavericks 48-7 at home. The result was nothing new for the Leopards, who have now won three contests by 41 points or more so far this season.
Ben Adams and Jacob Richard Janecek were among the main playmakers for Lovejoy as the former gained 158 total yards and two touchdowns and the latter rushed for 68 yards and three touchdowns.
Having lost for the first time this season, Walnut Grove fell to 6-1. As for Lovejoy, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-2.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Walnut Grove has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 322.4 passing yards per game. Lovejoy, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 185.3 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
