The Danville Blue Devils will venture away from home to face off against the Northmor Golden Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few points on average, (Danville: 13.8, Northmor: 11.8) so any points scored will be well earned.
Danville took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They walked away with a 20-8 win over Mt. Gilead. Given the Blue Devils' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio football rankings (they are ranked 249th, while the Indians are ranked 504th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Danville's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jacob Hackman led the charge by rushing for 47 yards and a touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Danville's defense and their four sacks. Mt. Gilead's QB won't forget Joshua Byers anytime soon given he sacked him twice. Byers is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made six or more in the last 16 games he's played dating back to last season. Danville got some further help from Caleb Lucas: he picked up a sack and made 15 total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Northmor put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They came out on top against Centerburg by a score of 34-26.
Cowin Becker was his usual excellent self, rushing for 186 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.5 yards per carry, and also picking up 145 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was AJ Bower, who threw for 216 yards and three touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Northmor was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 225 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Danville pushed their record up to 3-1 with that victory, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Northmor, their record now sits at 4-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Danville has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 208.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Northmor struggles in that department as they've been averaging 152.8. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Danville was able to grind out a solid win over Northmor in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, winning 32-21. The rematch might be a little tougher for Danville since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
