The Gretna East Griffins will head out on the road to square off against the Gretna Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Gretna East is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 32.8 points per game this season.
Gretna East is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Elkhorn North just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Friday. They took a 31-27 hit to the loss column at the hands of Elkhorn North. Despite 86 more yards than the , the Griffins couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
Despite the loss, Gretna East got top-tier performance from Carson Hermann, who picked up 104 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Gretna waltzed into their game on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They claimed a resounding 51-20 victory over the Rams on the road. Given the Dragons' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska football rankings (they are ranked 35th, while the Rams are ranked 95th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Gretna's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Michael Knudsen, who threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns. A healthy portion of that aerial production (82 yards to be exact) went to Bryce Lakers, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Gretna was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 255 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Gretna East's defeat dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Gretna, their victory bumped their record up to 5-3.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Gretna East has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 179.9 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Gretna has preferred to attack from the air: they average 309.5 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
