The Cisco Loboes will square off against the Merkel Badgers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Cisco has three straight wins, Merkel has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Friday, Cisco was able to grind out a solid victory over Coleman, taking the game 35-22.
Laike Kennedy continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, picking up 203 receiving yards and three touchdowns. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 106.8 receiving yards per game.
Meanwhile, Merkel scored the most points they've had all season on Friday, but it wasn't enough. They took a blow against Albany, falling 62-21. While losing is never fun, the Badgers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 1016th, while the Lions are ranked 461st).
Despite the defeat, Merkel saw an underclassman step up: Mayson Prieto picked up 161 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Prieto got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 93 yards.
Cisco's win was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-1. As for Merkel, their loss dropped their record down to 0-4.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. Cisco has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 197.8 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Merkel, though, as they've been averaging only 24. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Everything came up roses for Cisco against Merkel in their previous matchup back in October of 2019, as the team secured a 53-8 victory. In that contest, Cisco amassed a halftime lead of 34-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
