Pine Ridge hasn't had much luck against Todd County recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Pine Ridge Thorpes will be playing at home against the Todd County Falcons. Pine Ridge knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past five matchups -- so hopefully Todd County likes a good challenge.
Pine Ridge is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past St. Francis Indian 70-18 on the road last Thursday. The Thorpes might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by 26 points or more this season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pine Ridge was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 410 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Todd County, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Thursday. They took down Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Tiospaye Topa 42-28 on Thursday.
Todd County got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Tylen Valandra out in front who picked up 121 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown. Valandra showed off some serious burst, connecting on a big catch for 61 yards. Chris Ellert was another key passer, throwing for 182 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 passes.
Todd County wouldn't let Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Tiospaye Topa keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Kendrik Easter was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance.
Pine Ridge's victory bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Todd County, their win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-1.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Pine Ridge has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 363.2 passing yards per game. Todd County, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 267.2 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Thursday? There's only one way to find out.
Pine Ridge suffered a grim 40-18 defeat to Todd County when the teams last played back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Valandra, who rushed for 233 yards and a touchdown while picking up 10.6 yards per carry. Now that Pine Ridge knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
