The Hobart Brickies will challenge the Andrean Fighting 59ers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Hobart is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They strolled past Kankakee Valley with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 41-23. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Brickies.
Hobart's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Max Pickett, who rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.1 yards per carry, and Aleks Tatum, who rushed for 51 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Tatum a new career-high in rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Hobart was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 278 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Hobart wouldn't let Kankakee Valley keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Hobart can thank Andres Castillo and Josh Diaz for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, Andrean won against Kankakee Valley last Friday with 28 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. Andrean simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Munster 28-0 at home. Given the Fighting 59ers' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 103rd, while the Mustangs are ranked 255th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Brady Elish was a one-man wrecking crew for Andrean as he threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 75 yards on only six carries.
Andrean's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut James Finley.
The win got Hobart back to even at 2-2. As for Andrean, the victory also got them back to even at 2-2.
Hobart came out on top in a nail-biter against Andrean in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, sneaking past 27-24. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Andrean's Scott Ballentine, who threw for 272 yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Hobart to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
