The Pusch Ridge Christian Academy Lions will face off against the Benjamin Franklin Chargers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Benjamin Franklin will be up against a hot Pusch Ridge Christian Academy squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Lions claimed a resounding 48-0 win over Safford. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Lions just coasted through the last quarter.
Pusch Ridge Christian Academy got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Race Pinneo out in front who threw for 114 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes, and also rushed for 50 yards. Josiah Jones was Pinneo's top target, picking up eight receiving yards.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Pusch Ridge Christian Academy proved: they limited Safford to a paltry 0.9 yards per carry. The team can thank Aaron Kenworthy for the heroic effort on defense: he. Pusch Ridge Christian Academy's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.13 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 6.33 on average over their last five games.
Pusch Ridge Christian Academy didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Cameron Shoaff and Gio France. Another thorn in Safford's side was Kenworthy, who picked up two sacks, made six total tackles, and defended one pass.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Franklin got the win against Crismon on Friday by a conclusive 31-8. The Chargers haven't had any issues with the Rattlers recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Benjamin Franklin's win came from a few key players Pusch Ridge Christian Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Carson Stetka, who rushed for 107 yards and a pair of TDs. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in rushing touchdowns (two). Landon Stetka was another key player, rushing for 93 yards and one score.
One reason for the win was Benjamin Franklin's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Prezton Gomez refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself.
Benjamin Franklin's victory bumped their record up to 9-0. As for Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, their win bumped their record up to 8-1.
Pusch Ridge Christian Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over Benjamin Franklin in their previous meeting back in November of 2024, winning 24-13. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was the Chargers' Talan Speir, who picked up 152 receiving yards, and also punched in one touchdown on the ground. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Lions still be able to contain Speir? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
