Forest Park has won three straight games at home, while North Central has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Forest Park Trojans will face off against the North Central Jets at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Forest Park is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Ontonagon 63-6 on the road on Friday. Given the Trojans' advantage in MaxPreps' Michigan football rankings (they are ranked seventh, while the Gladiators are ranked 52nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Forest Park relied on the efforts of Grayson Sundell, who rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns on only 15 carries, and Dax Huuki, who rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries. With that strong performance, Sundell is now averaging an impressive 101.6 rushing yards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Trent Kannich, who gained 101 total yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Forest Park was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 454 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
One reason for the win was Forest Park's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for six sacks. Matthew Showers was especially locked on to Ontonagon's QB and sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, North Central took their match at home on Friday with ease, bagging a 40-13 win over Gogebic [Johnston/Wakefield].
Lane Gorzinski was his usual excellent self, rushing for 235 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.8 yards per carry, and also throwing for 71 yards and a touchdown while completing 75% of his passes. He is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last seven games he's played dating back to last season.
Forest Park's victory bumped their record up to 8-0. As for North Central, their win bumped their record up to 7-1.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Forest Park has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 291.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 300.6. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Forest Park suffered a grim 48-24 defeat to North Central in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Can Forest Park avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
