Football Preview: Tulare Western Mustangs vs. Mission Oak Hawks
On Friday Tulare Western will have to hit the road after three straight games at home. They will venture away from home to face off against the Mission Oak Hawks at 7:30 p.m. Tulare Western's defense has only allowed 17.4 points per game this season, so Mission Oak's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Last Friday, Tulare Western earned a 23-15 win over Wasco. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 244th, while the Tigers are ranked 511th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Tulare Western to victory, but perhaps none more so than Malachi Ficher, who picked up 62 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 36 yards and a touchdown. Tulare Western also got a significant boost from Mikey Johnson, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 91 yards.
Meanwhile, Mission Oak didn't have too much trouble with El Diamante on the road last Friday as they won 21-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Hawks.
Mission Oak's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Nick Retiz, Malachi King, and Isais Luna picked up one apiece. Finiccilo Hernandez was another major factor on D, picking up a sack, making eight total tackles (2.0 for loss), and defending a pass.
Tulare Western's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 4-1. As for Mission Oak, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Tulare Western came up short against Mission Oak when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 33-20. Thankfully for Tulare Western, Daniel Gonzalez (who rushed for 39 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 205 yards and a touchdown on only 18 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
