Jack Hurst bowls his way through a St. Henry tackler for a touchdown in Archbold’s week two win over the Redskins. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Nate Calvin
ARCHBOLD – The nonconference portion of NWOAL teams schedule is complete, and attention now turns to the league slate.
Week one features one of the best games in the state as 3-0 Liberty Center travels to 3-0 Archbold to open league action.
Liberty Center beat the Streaks in last year’s encounter 16-0 with Archbold winning the 2021 regular season matchup 41-7 but the Tigers would get revenge with a 38-35 win over Archbold in the playoffs.
Both teams have been dominant through their first three games with Archbold outscoring opponents 101-21 while the Tigers have won by a total of 127-20.
Both teams bring stout defenses into the contest but it maybe the offensive side of the ball that determines this one.
The Tigers were hit by graduation at running back and quarterback but have relied on the running game as always through their first three games.
Colton Kruse (29 attempts, 318 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Trenton Kruse (25 attempts, 254 yards, 7 touchdowns) have carried the load on the ground with both running backs averaging over 10.0 yards per carry.
Archbold has been balanced on offense led by quarterback Cade Brenner who is 32/44 passing for 388 yards and three touchdowns with Lucas Dominique leading the receiving corps with seven catches for 126 yards.
Dominique has also been the catalyst for Archbold on the ground with 227 yards rushing on 35 carries.
PREDICTION: Archbold 28 Liberty Center 21
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com
