Central Valley has gone 4-0 against St. Mary recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when Cougars takes on the St. Mary's Cardinals at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Central Valley is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They breezed by Elm Creek to the tune of 62-8. The win was nothing new for the Cougars as they're now sitting on six straight.
Zaden Wolf continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 99 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries, while also throwing for 56 yards and a touchdown on perfect 6-for-6 passing. He got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 61 yards.
Central Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 366 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 152 rushing yards in nine consecutive contests.
One reason for the win was Central Valley's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Caden Straka and Gunnar Vanosdall, who racked up all five sacks between them. Vanosdall has been hot recently, having also posted five or more total tackles the last three times he's played.
Meanwhile, St. Mary's had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 47.3 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They took their game with ease, bagging a 52-12 victory over the Trojans.
Gage Hedstrom was his usual excellent self, rushing for 266 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 14.0 yards per carry, and also throwing for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Those 266 rushing yards gave him a new career-high.
Central Valley's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-1. As for St. Mary's, their victory bumped their record up to 6-3.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Central Valley has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 330.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like St. Mary's struggles in that department as they've been averaging 216. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Central Valley against St. Mary's in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, as the team secured a 52-6 win. Will Central Valley repeat their success, or does St. Mary's have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
