The Killeen Kangaroos will challenge the Copperas Cove Bulldawgs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Killeen will come in still looking for their first win of the season.
Killeen managed to keep up with Brenham until halftime last Thursday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Killeen was beaten by Brenham 73-42. While losing is never fun, the Kangaroos can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 513th, while the Cubs are ranked 85th).
Despite the loss, Killeen got top-tier performance from Kardae Hicks, who rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. That's the most rushing yards Hicks has posted since back in September of 2023. Timothy Boatner also helped out with an impressive 97 receiving yards.
Even though they lost, Killeen was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 247 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Copperas Cove gave up the first points last Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. They walked away with a 21-14 win over Del Valle.
Kj (Lejuandro) Zeigler was his usual excellent self, rushing for 182 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 103.8 rushing yards per game. Another player making a difference was Malik Cuthbert, who rushed for 96 yards on only ten carries.
Killeen's defeat dropped their record down to 0-4. As for Copperas Cove, their victory ended a seven-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-2.
The upcoming match will be a clash of competing strengths. Killeen has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 389.5 passing yards per game. Copperas Cove, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 195.2 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Killeen might still be hurting after the 56-33 loss they got from Copperas Cove in their previous matchup back in October of 2021. Can Killeen avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
