St. Francis is 0-1 against Nazareth Academy since November of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The St. Francis Spartans will head out on the road to face off against the Nazareth Academy Roadrunners at 7:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
St. Francis had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Saturday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Leo 42-6 on the road. Given St. Francis' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 20th, while Leo is ranked 331st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
St. Francis' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alessio Milivojevic led the charge by throwing for 205 yards and four touchdowns. Milivojevic is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played. St. Francis also got a significant boost from Tyvonn Ransom, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 121 yards.
Meanwhile, Nazareth Academy had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They blew past Marian Catholic 42-13 on the road. Nazareth Academy pushed the score to 42-7 by the end of the third, a deficit Marian Catholic cut but never quite recovered from.
Their wins bumped St. Francis to 6-2 and Nazareth Academy to 4-4.
St. Francis took a serious blow against Nazareth Academy in their previous matchup back in November of 2014, falling 56-28. Can St. Francis avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
