Pope John XXIII will head out to face off against the Seton Hall Prep Pirates at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Pope John XXIII is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 30 points per game this season.
Pope John XXIII is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Jersey's top teams: Delbarton, who was ranked sixth in their home state at the time (Pope John XXIII was ranked 20th). Pope John XXIII and Delbarton were almost perfectly matched up on Saturday, but Pope John XXIII suffered a 35-34 loss. Pope John XXIII has struggled against Delbarton recently, as their game on Saturday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Pope John XXIII might have lost, but man, Tylik Hill was a machine: he rushed for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Hill showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 55 yards. Pope John XXIII also got help from Joe Rozynski, who showed off his sure hands for 82 receiving yards.
Pope John XXIII didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Nick Vannatta and Hill. Vannatta is also crushing it when it comes to total tackles: he's made at least five every time he's taken the field this season. Pope John XXIII got some further help from Sam Conetta: he picked up 1.5 sacks and made eight total tackles.
Even though they lost, Pope John XXIII was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 321 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Meanwhile, Seton Hall Prep managed to keep up with St. Peter's Prep until halftime on Saturday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Seton Hall Prep lost 35-14 to St. Peter's Prep. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Pirates have suffered against the Marauders since September 23, 2017.
Despite the loss, Seton Hall Prep got top-tier performance from Bryce Robbins, who rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave Robbins a new career-high in rushing yards.
Pope John XXIII's record now sits at 1-4. As for Seton Hall Prep, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's contest: Pope John XXIII has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 387.2 total yards per game. It's a different story for Seton Hall Prep, though, as they've been averaging only 210.2. Will Pope John XXIII be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will Seton Hall Prep flip the script?
Pope John XXIII was able to grind out a solid victory over Seton Hall Prep in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, winning 33-20. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pope John XXIII 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
