Preview: Century Centurions vs. Western Pioneers
Century has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will face off against The Western Pioneers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Century will be hoping to continue their three-game streak of scoring more points each contest than the last.
Century pushed their score all the way to 31 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Savanna by a score of 34-31.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Daniel Joya, who threw for 159 yards and two touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Jonathan Rodriguez was in the mix as well, providing Century with two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Western had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 40.8 points), and they went ahead and made it seven on Friday. They claimed a resounding 58-0 win over Santa Ana Valley on the road. The result was nothing new for Western, who have now won seven contests by 27 points or more so far this season.
Western's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Joshua Faulkner, who gained 116 total yards and three touchdowns, and Anthony Luna, who threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns on only 19 passes. Luna is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Clayton Corbett, who rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Santa Ana Valley to a paltry 122 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Western's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out seven times before it was all said and done. The heavy lifting was done by Dominic Hadrous and Malik Benjamin who racked up 4.5 sacks between them.
Century's loss was their fourth straight at home, which dropped their overall record down to 1-7. Sadly, the team can't blame their woes on tough opposition, as that stretch included 1-7 Savanna and 1-7 Magnolia (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 35.8% over those games). As for Western, their win on Friday bumped their record up to 7-1.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's matchup: Century has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 183.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Western struggles in that department as they've been even better at 185.6 per game. It's looking like Thursday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Century was dealt a bruising 61-0 defeat at the hands of Western when the teams last played back in September of 2022. Can Century avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
