Football Wednesday Preview: St. Michael-Albertville vs. Elk River

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

St. Michael-Albertville (5-2, 4-2 Mississippi 8 Conference) vs. Elk River (6-1, 5-1 Mississippi 8 Conference)

PLAYMAKERS
-- Ryan Lyzhoft  (St. Michael-Albertville – Running Back)
Junior leads the team with 621 yards and five rushing touchdowns.
-- Cole Krutzig (St. Michael-Albertville – Quarterback)
The junior signal caller showed that he can beat a team with his feet as he scored both rushing touchdowns in last week’s 14-10 win over Monticello. He has completed 60 of 117 passes for 748 yards and six scores.
-- Moses Saygbe (Elk River – Running Back)
Has rushed for 1112 yards (8.7 yards per carry) and 14 scores this season and has gone over 100 yards in five games, including 243 yards versus Becker. The senior is eighth in the state in rushing yards.
-- Dylan Chambers (Elk River – Running Back)
The senior has carried 100 times for 510 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and five touchdowns this year.

KNIGHTS WIN IF...
They can keep up their strong defensive play. The Knights have allowed just seven points in the first quarter all season. Over the past three games, STMA has given up a "garbage time" touchdown to Buffalo, shutout Cambridge-Isanti and one passing touchdown prior to the half vs. Monticello. That's a pretty impressive ratio of 12 quarters (144 minutes), 14 points.

ELKS WIN IF...
They can keep moving the ball on the ground. They have carried the ball 364 times for 2297 yards with 25 rushing scores and have only 10 pass completions this season.  The Elks are one of the season’s best feel-good stories. They finished 0-9 last year and had lost 16 straight games going into this season, but are two points away from being 7-0 as they lost to Becker 49-48. Becker scored all 21 points in the fourth quarter for the comeback win.

2-MINUTE DRILL
SITE: Elk River High School
TIME: 7 p.m. Wednesday
WEATHER: Mostly cloudy, 42 degrees
LAST MEETING: St. Michael-Albertville defeated Elk River 50-12 at home last season.

ST. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE SCHEDULE
Thur Sep 1 Princeton W 21-0
Fri, Sep 9 at Becker W 28-14
Fri, Sep 16 Rogers L 35-21
Fri, Sep 23 at Big Lake L 21-14
Fri, Sep 30 Buffalo W 14-6
Fri, Oct 7 at Cambridge-Isanti W 14-0
Fri, Oct 14 Monticello W 14-10
Wed, Oct 19 at Elk River

ELK RIVER SCHEDULE
Thu, Sep 1 Big Lake W 26-14
Fri, Sep 9 at Cambridge-Isanti W 44-36
Fri, Sep 16 at Moorhead W 31-29
Fri, Sep 23 Monticello W 42-34
Fri, Sep 30 at Becker L 49-48
Fri, Oct 7 at Buffalo W 35-22
Fri, Oct 14 Rogers W 17-14
Wed, Oct 19 St. Michael-Albertville