The Central Dauphin Rams will head out on the road to face off against the Harrisburg Cougars at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 48-21, which was the final score in Central Dauphin's tilt against Bishop McDevitt on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Rams can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 120th, while the Crusaders are ranked 23rd).
Central Dauphin's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Peyton Wylie, who rushed for 62 yards and a pair of scores, and Jadyn Johnson, who rushed for 63 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Harrisburg strolled into their game on Friday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They came within five points of losing the streak, but they secured a 21-16 W against Cumberland Valley. The 21-point effort marked the Cougars' lowest-scoring game of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Central Dauphin better focus on containing Princeton Dent and Elias Coke as the pair were huge in Harrisburg's win. Dent rushed for 194 yards and a pair of TDs, while Coke picked up 127 receiving yards and one score. Those 194 rushing yards gave Dent a new career-high.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Harrisburg's defense and their four sacks. Leading the way was Noah Ewell with two. He has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 21 times he's played.
Central Dauphin has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season. As for Harrisburg, their win bumped their record up to 8-0.
Saturday's matchup might be decided on the ground. Central Dauphin has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 150.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Harrisburg struggles in that department as they've been averaging 189.4 rushing yards. There's a good chance Saturday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Central Dauphin might still be hurting after the 27-7 loss they got from Harrisburg in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Can the Rams avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
