Week 7 Pregame Report: United South Central @ St. Clair/Mankato Loyola

Tonight’s game will feature undefeated United South Central (Wells, MN) (6-0) traveling to St. Clair to take on St. Clair/Mankato Loyola (3-3). Below I will breakdown the matchup between these two teams. I look forward to this southern Minnesota matchup…

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The Offenses

United South Central will run the ball down your throat. They are averaging almost 240 yards on the ground per game this season. Their passing game is no slouch either, as they are just short of 160 yards passing which is excellent for a 1A program where the rushing attack is big. RB Zach Niebaur already is a 1000 yard rusher this year and I expect him to play well against the Spartans tonight. In the passing game, look for QB Isaac Meyer to throw to where more than 50% of his passing yards have come through this season to WR AJ Kloos who I expect to get over the 500-yard receiving yard mark after this one.

Look for the Spartans to dive in on their quarterback runs on this one. QB Ben Ellingsworth has one game this year where he’s rushed for near 200 yards rushing against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. When the rushing attack isn’t the move, he has a good receiver in WR Matthew Helget who is quick and I think could be a threat in the red zone.

The Defenses

The Rebels defense has some studs. Brevan Linder is just shy of 15 sacks this season for the Rebels, look for him to be in the backfield a lot tonight along with his sidekick Jacob Hendrickson (9.5 sacks). 62 tackles in his last three games for Micah Hamson, that has to be some sort of record for a 3 game span. This Rebels defense has allowed less than 50 points total on the season if that’s not a sign their defense is outstanding I’m not sure what is.

The Spartans defense has been strong in the last two games, only has allowed 16 points total. Kahlan Benning one of my players to watch on the defensive line for the Spartans, as he has been the tackling machine for this defense. Alongside Benning, DL Matthew Karst has been effective as well on the defensive line, this 1-2 punch is very strong upfront for the Cyclones.

The Outcome

WIth United South Central posting up at 6th in the 1A football poll this week, you would like to say the Rebels have the upper hand. On the other hand, this is the Spartans’ first game at St. Clair (they also play at Mankato Loyola) of the season tonight, so expect a packed house in St. Clair and that extra energy that comes from the first game of the year to weigh in for the Spartans as well.