Preview: Springfield Longhorns vs. Las Animas Trojans
Springfield is 7-1 against Las Animas since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Springfield Longhorns will be playing at home against the Las Animas Trojans at 7:00 p.m. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
After soaring to 46 points the game before, Springfield were a bit more limited in their contest on Friday. They took a serious blow against McClave, falling 44-8. Springfield was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 38-0.
Meanwhile, Las Animas had to suffer through a rough 54-14 loss at the hands of Swink.
Despite the loss, Las Animas saw an underclassman step up: Orion Martinez rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown. Martinez was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 53 yards.
Springfield's defeat dropped their record down to 3-5. As for Las Animas, their loss was their ninth straight at home (dating back to last season), which dropped their overall record down to 1-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's match: Springfield has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 210 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Las Animas, though, as they've been averaging only 51.9 per game. How will Las Animas fare against such a dominant running game?
Springfield strolled past Las Animas in their previous matchup back in October of 2022 by a score of 38-20. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Las Animas' Dayton Morlan, who rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.8 yards per carry, and also threw for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Springfield to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
