Two dominant backs in Brayden Pappas and Augie Fast are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Eisenhower Tigers will venture away from home to square off against the Northwest Grizzlies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Eisenhower easily dispatched Arkansas City last Friday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. The Tigers fell just short of Andover Central by a score of 55-52 on Friday. On the bright side, the 52- point effort marked the Tigers' highest-scoring game to date.
Meanwhile, Northwest waltzed into their matchup on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Titans 52-0. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Grizzlies' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked sixth, while the Titans are ranked 117th).
Eisenhower better keep an eye on Jaylen Mason. He was instrumental in Northwest's win, rushing for 98 yards and one touchdown on only 11 carries, while also throwing for 192 yards and a pair of TDs. That's the most rushing yards Mason has posted since back in September of 2024.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Northwest proved: they limited South to a paltry 1.9 yards per carry. While one picked up at least four total tackles, Johnmichael Fountain stood above the rest. He picked up a sack and made four total tackles (2.0 for loss). Northwest didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged eight.
Northwest didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jason Bennett and Cordale Johnson. Bennett got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Eisenhower's defeat dropped their record down to 2-5. As for Northwest, their record now sits at 6-1.
Eisenhower couldn't quite finish off Northwest when the teams last played back in October of 2024 and fell 31-28. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mason, who threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 91 yards. Now that the Tigers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
