St. Mary is 0-4 against Central Valley since October of 2018 but things could change on Friday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when Cardinals dukes it out withthe Central Valley Cougars at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
St. Mary's is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Cambridge 52-12. The win was familiar territory for the Cardinals who have now won four contests in a row.
Gage Hedstrom continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 266 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 14.0 yards per carry, and also throwing for 92 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
St. Mary's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 343 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 156 rushing yards in nine consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Central Valley came tearing into Thursday's game with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 54.2 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Buffaloes 62-8. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 46-0.
It was another big night for Zaden Wolf, who rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries, and also threw for 56 yards and a touchdown on perfect 6-for-6 passing. His longest rush was for an impressive 61 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
Central Valley wouldn't let Elm Creek keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Central Valley can thank Taesian Soto and Caleb Studley for forcing both of them.
St. Mary's victory bumped their record up to 6-3. As for Central Valley, they pushed their record up to 8-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. St. Mary's has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 216 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Central Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 330.6. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
St. Mary's was dealt a bruising 52-6 defeat at the hands of Central Valley when the teams last played back in October of 2022. Thankfully for St. Mary's, Zandar Wolf (who rushed for 314 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 13.1 yards per carry, and also caught a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
