The Merkel Badgers will head out to take on the Hawley Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Friday, Merkel was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 20-14 to Bangs. The Badgers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Bronson Lloyd, who threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave him a new career- in total yards. 120 of those passing yards were hauled in by Cj Walcott.
Meanwhile, Hawley owes their defense a big pat on the back after their performance on Friday. They put the hurt on Albany with a sharp 21-0 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bearcats.
Hawley's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Keagan Ables, who threw for 314 yards and a touchdown while completing 73.3% of his passes, and also rushed for 67 yards. With that strong performance, Ables is now averaging an impressive 304 passing yards per game. Kenny Cole was Ables' top target, picking up 120 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Merkel's loss dropped their record down to 0-2. As for Hawley, they pushed their record up to 2-0 with that victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season.
Merkel took a serious blow against Hawley when the teams last played back in September of 2021, falling 41-7. Thankfully for Merkel, Rodey Hooper (who threw for 164 yards and three touchdowns on only 15 passes, and also punched in a rushing score) 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
