The Sunnyside Christian Knights will face off against the Waitsburg Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
If Sunnyside Christian beats Waitsburg with 48 points on Friday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. The Knights blew past Mabton, posting a 48-12 victory. The game marked the Knights' most dominant win of the season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Waitsburg). They put the hurt on St. John-Endicott with a sharp 70-44 victory on Friday. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 48-18.
Sunnyside Christian better keep an eye on Jayton Gleason. He was instrumental in Waitsburg's win, rushing for 191 yards and five scores on only 11 carries, while also throwing for 222 yards and four touchdowns. Gleason's passing game has become a key predictor of the Cardinals' success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 110 or higher, but only 0-3 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Martin Vasquez, who gained 177 total yards and two touchdowns.
Waitsburg was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 307 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Waitsburg's defensive line and their five sacks. In that department, Victor Whitmore was the leader with three. He also set a new season-high mark in total tackles with 16. Waitsburg got some further help from Jarod Hankins: he picked up a sack, forced two fumbles, and made ten total tackles.
Sunnyside Christian's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 3-4. The home victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 11.7 points on average over those games. As for Waitsburg, their win bumped their record up to 5-3.
Sunnyside Christian took a serious blow against Waitsburg when the teams last played back in November of 2024, falling 54-24. Can the Knights avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
