Football
Sectional Championships Game Predictions
6A Sectional 3
Carroll (7-3) at Homestead (10-0)
Prediction: Homestead wins 31-17
This week’s SAC games will be headlined by an exciting Carroll-Homestead rematch. The Spartans took the first game by a score of 42-15 after they were able to outscore the Chargers 28-3 in the second half. They’ll look to light up the scoreboard again behind QB Luke Goode (2,431 yds, 62% comp, 25 TD) and a host of wide receivers led by Jared Kistler (28 rec, 592 yds, 4 TD) and Jake Archbold (32 rec, 527 yds, 11 TD). Carroll, who scored 42 points in their last game against Snider, will look to QB Jeff Becker (1,852 yds, 53% comp, 19 TD) and his wide receivers such as Layton Mitchell (43 rec, 696 yds, 10 TD) and Mason Englert (28 rec, 455 yds, 3 TD) to keep up with Homestead’s offense this time around. This game could be close around halftime, but expect the Spartans to pull it out in the second half with their experienced defense that features senior linebacker’s Cam Rogers and Nik Martin.
5A Sectional 11
Northrop (5-5) at Bishop Dwenger (9-1)
Prediction: Bishop Dwenger wins 28-7
Dwenger will need to make the most of their possessions this week against Northrop. That means they’ll have to win the turnover battle, which they didn’t do in their first meeting with the Bruins, losing it 2-1. They were still able to gut out a 9-7 win, but this time around they’d like to win much more convincingly. That means that the Saints will need both RB Louie Tippmann (493 yds, 5.9 yds/car, 2 TD) and WR/RB Patrick Finley (386 yds, 7.3 yds/car, 4 TD) to keep the chains and clock moving. For the Bruins, it will be the RB tandem of Jeremiah Green (654 yds, 4.3 yds/car, 8 TD) and Damarius Cowen (672 yds, 6.2 yds/car, 5 TD) that will be greatly relied upon for Northrop to get a win. With these two teams preferring to run the ball, it will make for a short game. That means the team that’s able to keep their offense out on the field the longest will likely win. With their rushing attack, Dwenger will be hard to get off the field, and, with the help of a few turnovers, the Saints should win more comfortably this time.
3A Sectional 27
Concordia (6-5) at Peru (6-5)
Prediction: Concordia wins 35-10
Concordia gets to face another Three Rivers Conference team this week in Peru. For reference, Maconaquah beat Peru 43-27 in the regular season and as we know Concordia beat Maconaquah 42-21 a few weeks ago. Using those scores, it would make sense for Concordia to win this game fairly easily. However, sometimes in sports things don’t go the way you expect them to. And with Peru coming in with two fantastic offensive weapons in QB Michael Chandler (1,269 yds, 57% comp, 14 TD) and RB Daunte Majors (1,012 yds, 14.3 yds/car, 13 TD), the Tigers could make it a good game. But with the potential that Concordia has with their own playmakers, Brandon Davis (2,063 yds, 52% comp, 16 TD) and Amir Drew (1,063 yds, 5.3 yds/car, 13 TD), it would make sense for this game to end in the Cadets getting a nice win to move on to regionals.
