After each having a week off, the Southwest Roughriders and the Wallace Wildcats will shake off the cobwebs and square off against one another at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Friday, Southwest came up short against Arthur County and fell 40-28. The defeat continues a trend for the Roughriders in their matchups with the Wolves: they've now lost three in a row.
Southwest's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Houston Billeter, who threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns, and Deric Kelley, who picked up 114 receiving yards. Billeter is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Wallace was fully in charge two weeks ago, breezing past South Platte 41-14 on the road. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.
Ashtin Johns had a dynamite game for Wallace, rushing for 153 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.7 yards per carry, and also throwing for 13 yards and a touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Wallace 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 200 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Wallace wouldn't let South Platte keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Wallace can thank Jorge Valadez and Tyson Sullivan for forcing both of them.
Having lost for the first time this season, Southwest fell to 2-1. As for Wallace, they now also have a winning record of 2-1.
The upcoming match will be a clash of competing strengths. Southwest has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 271.3 passing yards per game. Wallace, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 258 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Southwest didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Wallace in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, but they still walked away with a 20-14 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Southwest 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
