Football Preview: Orland Trojans vs. Red Bluff Spartans
The Orland Trojans will head out on the road to face off against the Red Bluff Spartans at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Orland is looking to tack on another W to their five-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Orland is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Shasta just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Friday. They took a 22-15 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Wolves. That makes it the first time this season the Trojans have let down their home crowd.
Orland might have lost, but man, Luke Schager was a machine: he rushed for 178 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave Schager a new career-high in rushing yards.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Red Bluff). They blew past Corning 49-14 at home on Friday. Given the Spartans' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 217th, while the Cardinals are ranked 643rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kayden Leaf continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 258 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 12.3 yards per attempt, and also rushing for 57 yards and a touchdown. Another player making a difference was Zach Shaver, who rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Red Bluff was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 220 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 188 rushing yards in six consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Having lost for the first time this season, Orland fell to 3-1. As for Red Bluff, their record is now 4-0.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Orland has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 353 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Red Bluff struggles in that department as they've been averaging 299.5. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Orland ended up a good deal behind Red Bluff in their previous meeting back in March of 2021, losing 18-0. Thankfully for Orland, Clyde Shaver (who rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries, and also threw for 98 yards and a touchdown on only seven passes) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
