Two dominant backs in Cooper Kisgen and Trey Clark are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Freeburg Midgets will be playing in front of their home fans against the Salem Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Freeburg has three straight victories, Salem has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Freeburg is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past East Alton-Wood River, posting a 63-0 win. Given the Midgets' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 143rd, while the Oilers are ranked 467th) , the win on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
James Thomas had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 80 yards and one score. He really tore up the turf during one magnificent 80-yard run. Brady Kerr was in the mix as well, providing Freeburg with two TDs.
Freeburg's run defense was locked in: East Alton-Wood River could only muster 1.6 yards per carry. The team can thank Kisgen for the heroic effort on defense: he. Freeburg didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 16.1.
Special teams was a major factor in the game for Freeburg, racking up 13 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Kerr, who ran a punt back for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Salem and Columbia were almost perfectly matched up on Friday, but Salem suffered a 7-6 defeat.
Freeburg's victory bumped their record up to 6-1. As for Salem, their loss dropped their record down to 2-5.
Freeburg took their win against Salem in their previous matchup back in October of 2024 by a conclusive 33-7 score. In that contest, the Midgets amassed a halftime lead of 20-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
