The Thunder Ridge Longhorns will be playing at home against the St. Francis Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing seems to be in Thunder Ridge's favor as the squad sits on three straight wins at home while St. Francis has been banged up by four consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.
Last Friday, Thunder Ridge blew past Wheatland-Grinnell, posting a 52-6 win on the road. Given Thunder Ridge's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked 35th, while Wheatland-Grinnell is ranked 115th), the result wasn't exactly an upset.
Thunder Ridge's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Mason Baker led the charge by rushing for 109 yards and three touchdowns on only six carries, while also throwing for 162 yards and three touchdowns while completing 100% of his passes. Another player making a difference was Evan Slavik, who picked up 111 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
St. Francis never got on the board in their last matchup, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Logan/Palco last Friday. Everything went St. Francis' way against Logan/Palco as St. Francis made off with a 76-52 win. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 54-28.
St. Francis can attribute much of their success to Lucas Raile, who rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries, and Layn Todd, who rushed for 225 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry. Wyatt Klinzmann was another key contributor, picking up 49 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Thunder Ridge's victory pushed their record up to 4-2, while St. Francis' bumped their own up to the opposite: 2-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday' match: Thunder Ridge has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 370.2 total yards per game. It's a different story for St. Francis, though, as they've been averaging only 224.6 per game. Will Thunder Ridge be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will St. Francis flip the ?
Everything came up roses for Thunder Ridge against St. Francis when the teams last played back in October of 2022 as the team secured a 50-0 win. Does Thunder Ridge have another victory up their sleeve, or will St. Francis turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
