Football Preview: Calexico Bulldogs vs. Imperial Tigers
Calexico is 4-0 against Imperial since September of 2023, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The Calexico Bulldogs will stay at home for another week and welcome the Imperial Tigers at 7:30 p.m. Calexico is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 26.2 points per game this season.
Calexico will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any points on Wednesday, then bounced right back against Southwest EC on Monday. Calexico breezed by Southwest EC at home to the tune of 41-12. The result was nothing new for the Bulldogs, who have now won four contests by 29 points or more so far this season.
Giovanna Ortiz continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 331 yards and six touchdowns. Lizbeth Ortiz was Giovanna's top target, picking up 89 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Another reason for the win was Calexico's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Joana Brambila was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up threeherself. She also made four total tackles, which is notable because Calexico is 4-2 when she posts at least three total tackles, but 2-5 otherwise.
Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, Imperial's good fortune finally ran out on Monday. They fell just short of Brawley by a score of 21-19. Despite 83 more yards than the Wildcats, the Tigers couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
Despite the loss, Imperial saw an underclassman step up: Mirella Barron threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns.
Imperial didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Barron, Hannah Johnson, Addison Clark, and Clarissa Davila picked up one apiece.
Calexico has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 6-7 record this season. As for Imperial, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-4.
Wednesday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant signal callers against one another: Ortiz and Barron. Ortiz has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 278.5 passing yards and has 47 passing touchdowns on the season. For her part, Barron has averaged 192.4 passing yards and has 30 passing touchdowns on the season.
Calexico didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Imperial in their previous meeting back in September, but they still walked away with a 13-7 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Clark, who rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries, and also picked up 49 receiving yards. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Calexico still be able to contain Clark? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
