The Hazen Highlanders will face off against the Newport - Bellevue Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Hazen is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 69-20 victory over Renton on the road. The win was familiar territory for the Highlanders who have now won three games in a row.
Meanwhile, everything went Newport - Bellevue's way against Redmond on Friday as Newport - Bellevue made off with a 45-20 victory. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' Washington football rankings (they are ranked 111th, while the Mustangs are ranked 225th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Cole Oliver was his usual excellent self, throwing for 289 yards and three touchdowns while completing 88% of his passes, and also rushing for 50 yards and a touchdown.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Newport - Bellevue was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 209 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Newport - Bellevue didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. Leading the way was Brayden Howard and his an interception.
Hazen's win bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Newport - Bellevue, the victory made it two in a row for them and also bumps their season record up to 5-2.
Hazen won a matchup that couldn't have been any closer when the teams last played back in October of 2023, slipping by Newport - Bellevue 14-13. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Oliver, who threw for 355 yards and two touchdowns while completing 77.8% of his passes. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Hazen still be able to contain Oliver? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
