Papillion-LaVista South is 0-3 against Elkhorn South since September of 2022 but things could change on Friday. The Papillion-LaVista South Titans will square off against the Elkhorn South Storm at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Friday, Papillion-LaVista South humbled Burke with a 47-8 victory. The Titans pushed the score to 47-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Bulldogs cut but never quite recovered from.
Papillion-LaVista South can attribute much of their success to Derek Jones, who rushed for 180 yards and a touchdown while picking up 10.0 yards per carry, and Chase Cunningham, who threw for 118 yards and four touchdowns while completing 72.7% of his passes. The dominant performance also gave Cunningham a new career-high in rushing yards. Casey Popish was in the mix too, providing Papillion-LaVista South with two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Papillion-LaVista South was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 269 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, after only three points in their last contest, Elkhorn South made sure to put some points up on the board against Norfolk on Thursday. Elkhorn South simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Norfolk 45-13 on the road. Given the Storm's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska football rankings (they are ranked fifth, while the Panthers are ranked 72nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Elkhorn South's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Gavin Shanahan, who rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown. Madden Riggs was another key player, throwing for 157 yards and two touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes.
Elkhorn South didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Zen Fallquist, Cadyn Clark, and Keenan Schroeder picked up one apiece. Elkhorn South got some further help from Cooper Perrien: he picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (4.0 for loss).
The victory got Papillion-LaVista South back to even at 4-4. As for Elkhorn South, their record is now 7-1.
Friday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Jones and Shanahan. Jones has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 126.4 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Shanahan has averaged 123 rushing yards per game this season.
Papillion-LaVista South took a serious blow against Elkhorn South when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 42-8. That match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Papillion-LaVista South was down 35-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
