After each having a week off, the Wallace Wildcats and the Southwest Roughriders will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Southwest took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Wallace, who comes in off a win.
Two weeks ago, Wallace was fully in charge, breezing past South Platte 41-14 on the road. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Wildcats.
Wallace found their leader in underclassman Ashtin Johns, who rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.7 yards per carry, and also threw for 13 yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Wallace was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 254 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 200 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Wallace wouldn't let South Platte keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Wallace can thank Jorge Valadez and Tyson Sullivan for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, Southwest came up short against Arthur County last Friday and fell 40-28. The loss was the Roughriders' first of the season.
Southwest's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Houston Billeter, who threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns, and Deric Kelley, who picked up 114 receiving yards. Billeter is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Wallace now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Southwest, their defeat was their first of the season and also makes their record 2-1.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Wallace has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 258 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Southwest has preferred to attack from the air: they average 271.3 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Wallace came up short against Southwest in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 20-14. Thankfully for Wallace, Nathan Rippe (who picked up 109 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
