The Mascoutah Indians will take on the Carbondale Terriers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Mascoutah's favor as the team sits on three straight wins at home while Carbondale has been banged up by four consecutive losses on the road.
Mascoutah is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Waterloo on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Mascoutah was dealt a 56-28 defeat at the hands of Waterloo. While losing is never fun, the Indians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 224th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 82nd).
Even though they lost, Mascoutah was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 217 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 175 rushing yards in six consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Carbondale didn't have quite enough to beat Marion on Friday and fell 44-42. The Terriers gained 65 more yards on the day, but it was the Wildcats that made the best use of them.
Carbondale might have lost, but man, Demarzion Graham was a machine: he rushed for 167 yards and five touchdowns. Graham is becoming a predictor of Carbondale's success: when he posts at least 80 rushing yards the team is 3-1 (and 0-4 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Davin Wooley, who rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries.
Mascoutah's loss dropped their record down to 3-5. As for Carbondale, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 3-5.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Mascoutah has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 223.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Carbondale struggles in that department as they've been averaging 171.6. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Mascoutah lost to Carbondale at home by a decisive 72-54 margin in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. Thankfully for Mascoutah, Brock Bowlby (who threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 16.7 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 43 yards and two touchdowns) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
