The Gainesville Cardinals had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They blew past Unity Reed 45-8 on the road. Given Gainesville's advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia football rankings (they are ranked 67th, while Unity Reed is ranked 239th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Colton Kilmer, who threw for 347 yards and four touchdowns while completing 73.3% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Aidan McClafferty did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 161 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Another reason for the win was Gainesville's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Aidan Washington was especially locked on to Unity Reed's QB and sacked him twice.
Gainesville pushed their record up to 8-2 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-9 Osbourn Park and 2-8 Unity Reed (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 25.6% over those games). As for Unity Reed, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-8.
Gainesville will head out on the road to face off against Colonial Forge at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Colonial Forge is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune. Unity Reed does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
