Andover Central has won four straight games at home, while Wellington has won four straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Andover Central Jaguars will host the Wellington Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. Andover Central knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past three matches -- so hopefully Wellington likes a good challenge.
Andover Central is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They breezed by Winfield to the tune of 35-7. The Jaguars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matchups by 24 points or more this season.
Maddox Archibald was his usual excellent self, rushing for 227 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.5 yards per carry, and also picking up 30 receiving yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Jace Adler also helped out with an impressive 99 receiving yards.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Andover Central's defense and their three sacks. In that department, Gaige Hurley was the leader with two. He also set a new season high mark in total tackles with eight.
Andover Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 239 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 169 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Wellington slipped by Kapaun Mt. Carmel 20-19 on Thursday.
It was another big night for Dusty Bannister, who threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns. He has been hot , having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last five times he's played. Skyler Branam was Bannister's top target, picking up 100 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Wellington's win bumped their record up to 8-2. As for Andover Central, their victory bumped their record up to 9-1.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Andover Central has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 172.8 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Wellington has preferred to attack from the air: they average 313 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Everything came up roses for Andover Central against Wellington when the teams last played back in October of 2021, as the squad secured a 48-0 win. Does Andover Central have another victory up their sleeve, or will Wellington turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
