After each having a week off, the Beekmantown Eagles and the Peru Nighthawks will shake off the rust and duke it out at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Beekmantown has struggled recently with three defeats in a row, while Peru will arrive with eight straight victories.
Things were looking good for Beekmantown after they put the first points on the board last Friday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They fell 28-24 to Saranac Lake. While the Eagles didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Red Storm 6-0 in the first quarter.
Although Beekmantown took the loss, they still got scores from Garrett Pelkey, Blake Rock, and Hunter Porter.
Meanwhile, Peru strolled past Saranac with points to spare last Friday, taking the game 41-25.
Beekmantown better focus on containing Brody Blaise-Smith and Jake Frechette as the pair were huge in Peru's win. Blaise-Smith rushed for 166 yards and three TDs while picking up 8.3 yards per carry, while Frechette threw for 179 yards and three touchdowns on only ten passes. Those three rushing touchdowns gave Blaise-Smith a new career-high.
Peru was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 233 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Peru's record is now 8-0. As for Beekmantown, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.
Friday's game might be decided on the ground. Beekmantown has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 188.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Peru struggles in that department as they've been averaging 224.6 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Beekmantown was taken down by Peru 42-0 when the teams last played back in September. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Blaise-Smith, who rushed for 75 yards and a pair of scores on only five carries. Now that the Eagles know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
