The Sacopee Valley Hawks will face off against the Spruce Mountain Phoenix at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Sacopee Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Maine's top teams: Lake Region, who was ranked fourth in their home state at the time (Sacopee Valley was ranked 16th). Sacopee Valley had to suffer through a 60-12 loss at the hands of Lake Region. The matchup marked the Hawks' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Meanwhile, Spruce Mountain waltzed into their game on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They took their match on the road with ease, bagging a 52-12 victory over Boothbay/Wiscasset. The result was nothing new for the Phoenix, who have now won four contests by 40 points or more so far this season.
Spruce Mountain's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Owen Kelvey led the charge by rushing for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Kelvey didn't just play on offense: he also forced a fumble and made seven total tackles in addition to snagging an interception. Another back making a difference was Austin Armandi, who rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries.
Spruce Mountain didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Armandi, Kelvey, Caden Frazier, and Dylan Jewett picked up one apiece. Armandi's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 116 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Spruce Mountain was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 339 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in three consecutive matchups.
This is the second loss in a row for Sacopee Valley and nudges their season record down to 4-3. As for Spruce Mountain, their win bumped their record up to 6-1.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
