Preview: Laguna Creek Cardinals vs. Grant Pacers
The Laguna Creek Cardinals will be playing in front of their home fans against the Grant Pacers at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Laguna Creek's favor is that they have now posted big point totals in their last five matchups.
Laguna Creek stacked a fifth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard two weeks ago. They blew past McClatchy 63-0 at home. Given Laguna Creek's advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while McClatchy is ranked 806th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Laguna Creek can attribute much of their success to Mitchell Labrado, who threw for 154 yards and four touchdowns on only 13 passes, and Armon Thorntona, who rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries. Another player making a difference was Halim Tholley, who picked up 71 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Grant unfortunately witnessed the end of their six-game winning streak on Friday. They were just a hair shy of victory and fell 35-34 to Monterey Trail. This was one game where the offenses had no trouble playing at a high level.
Grant's defeat came about despite a quality game from Wayshawn Parker, who rushed for 204 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 9.3 yards per carry. Parker hasn't dropped below two rushing touchdowns for three straight games. Devin Green was another key contributor, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Laguna Creek's victory was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 7-2. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-8 McClatchy and 1-8 Kennedy (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 27.8% over those games). As for Grant, their loss dropped their record down to 7-2.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Friday's game as the two teams haven't had much trouble getting there this season. Laguna Creek commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 5.7 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like Grant struggles in that department as they've been even better at 6.2 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Friday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup.
Laguna Creek was dealt a bruising 56-21 defeat at the hands of Grant in their previous matchup back in October of 2022. Thankfully for Laguna Creek, Joseph Mccray (who rushed for 21 yards and five touchdowns, and also threw for 326 yards and a touchdown on only 19 passes) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
