The East Butler Tigers will challenge the Shelby-Rising City Huskies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
East Butler gave up the first points last Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. They enjoyed a cozy 30-14 win over McCool Junction. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Tigers.
Rocco Hageman had a dynamite game for East Butler, rushing for 216 yards and three touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Hageman a new career-high in rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Shelby-Rising City was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Heartland 60-8 at home. The game marked Shelby-Rising City's most dominant victory of the season so far.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Jett Vrbka and he. Vrbka rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown while he rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown. Carter Eickmeier was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 51 yards. Another big playmaker for Shelby-Rising City was Logan Lindsley, who returned a punt for a touchdown.
Shelby-Rising City's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Vrbka, Dalton Pokorney, and Pokorney picked up one apiece. Eli Fjell is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season. Shelby-Rising City got some further help from Collin Vrbka: he picked up a sack and made 12 total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Shelby-Rising City was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 225 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Heartland only rushed for 126.
East Butler's win bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Shelby-Rising City, they pushed their record up to 3-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. East Butler has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 241.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Shelby-Rising City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 179.8. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
East Butler was dealt a bruising 61-8 loss at the hands of Shelby-Rising City in their previous meeting back in October of 2021. Can East Butler avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
