The Dakota Ridge Eagles will challenge the Cherokee Trail Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Dakota Ridge's offense will try to repeat the strong performance it gave on Friday, when they got past Pomona's usually-dominant defense. Dakota Ridge put the hurt on Pomona with a sharp 34-12 win. That 22 point margin sets a new team best for the Eagles this season.
It was another big night for Landon Kalsbeck, who rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries. He also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, forcing a fumble and making nine total tackles (1.0 for loss). Sam Callas was another key rusher, gaining 69 total yards and a touchdown.
Dakota Ridge wouldn't let Pomona keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Kalsbeck, Jack Offerdahl, and Offerdahl picked up one apiece. Kalsbeck's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 118 rushing yards. Blake Bishop was another major factor on D, making three total tackles (1.0 for loss) and defending a pass in addition to snagging an interception which he returned one-yard for a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Dakota Ridge was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 242 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Cherokee Trail never got on the board in their matchup two weeks ago, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Rocky Mountain last Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Lobos 37-6 at home. The Cougars' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Cherokee Trail had a senior duo take command as Tyson Smith threw for 190 yards and two touchdowns and Noah Collins rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Those 87 rushing yards set a new season-high mark for Collins. Backing up that air attack was Brian Tucker, who rushed for 90 yards.
The victory (which was Dakota Ridge's third in a row) raised their record to 3-1. As for Cherokee Trail, the win got them back to even at 2-2.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
