Football Preview: Natomas Nighthawks vs. Sutter Huskies
Two dominant backs in Adrian Sanders-Muniz and Marcus Meras are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Natomas Nighthawks will venture away from home to challenge the Sutter Huskies at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. Natomas is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road.
Natomas' offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Casa Roble on Friday. They were dealt a 38-0 defeat at the hands of the Rams. Having soared to a lofty 56 points in the game before, the Nighthawks' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.
Meanwhile, Sutter had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 56 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They blew past the Knights 51-16 at home. Considering the Huskies have won six games by more than 23 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Braden Scritchfield continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 175 yards and four touchdowns while completing 81.8% of his passes, and also rushing for 40 yards and a touchdown. Another player making a difference was Losi Asiata, who rushed for 107 yards on only six carries.
Another reason for the win was Sutter's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Leading the way was Justice White with two. Zeke Mendieta was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making six total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Sutter was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 290 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 195 rushing yards in nine consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
The loss snapped Natomas' winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 4-4 record. As for Sutter, their win bumped their record up to 7-1.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Natomas has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 170.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Sutter struggles in that department as they've been averaging 299.6. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Natomas was taken down by Sutter 62-7 in their previous meeting back in September of 2022. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Natomas was down 41-7.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
