The Skyridge Falcons will head out on the road to square off against the Pleasant Grove Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Skyridge has three straight wins, Pleasant Grove has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Skyridge is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Utah's top teams: Lone Peak, who was ranked second in their home state at the time (Skyridge was ranked third). Skyridge managed a 21-16 victory over Lone Peak on Friday.
Zaeden Selu was his usual excellent self, rushing for 153 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. Those 153 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Kaneal Sweetwyne, who rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries.
Skyridge didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Darian Diarte and Samuel Pollmann. Diarte also set a new season high mark in total tackles with eight. Griffin Kunz was another major factor on D, picking up 1.5 sacks, making eight total tackles (2.5 for loss), and defending a pass.
Skyridge was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 254 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 152 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, a win for Pleasant Grove just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the squad wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They lost 30-8 to American Fork.
Skyridge's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-2. As for Pleasant Grove, their loss dropped their record down to 1-7.
Thursday's contest might be decided in the trenches. Skyridge has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 184.6 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Pleasant Grove, though, as they've been averaging only 83.9. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Skyridge beat Pleasant Grove 37-30 when the teams last played back in November of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Skyridge since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
