Greater Johnstown has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will venture away from home to challenge the Westmont Hilltop Hilltoppers at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Greater Johnstown will be strutting in after a victory while Westmont Hilltop will be coming in after a defeat.
Having struggled with 13 losses in a row dating back to last season, Greater Johnstown finally turned things around against Central Cambria on Friday. They walked away with a 47-36 win over the Red Devils. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Trojans considering their 12-point performance the game before.
It was another big night for Julius Reed, who threw for 221 yards and five touchdowns, and also rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Another player making a difference was Raheem Braswell, who gained 144 total yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Greater Johnstown was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 292 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Greater Johnstown's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Zymir Reed and Ronnison Edwards. The dominant performance gave Reed a new career-high in rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Westmont Hilltop was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their ninth straight defeat. They lost 40-20 to Somerset. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Hilltoppers have suffered against the Eagles since October 9, 2015.
Despite the defeat, Westmont Hilltop saw an underclassman step up: Landen Valente rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown. With that strong performance, Valente is now averaging an impressive 102.2 rushing yards per game.
Greater Johnstown's victory ended a six-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 1-3. As for Westmont Hilltop, their loss dropped their record down to 0-4.
Saturday's match might be decided in the trenches. Greater Johnstown has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 151.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Westmont Hilltop struggles in that department as they've been averaging 244.5. It's looking like Saturday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Greater Johnstown was taken down by Westmont Hilltop 35-0 when the teams last played back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Westmont Hilltop's Cody Mcmillan, who rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 11.6 yards per carry, and also picked up 41 receiving yards. Now that Greater Johnstown knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
