The Winters Warriors will head out to square off against the Pierce Bears at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Winters comes in on six and Pierce on nine.
On Friday, Winters was able to grind out a solid win over Paradise, taking the game 28-21.
Lane Brown was his usual excellent self, rushing for 164 yards and one touchdown while picking up 8.2 yards per carry, and also throwing for 197 yards and three TDs. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in September. 83 of Brown's passing yards were hauled in by Luke Felsen, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Winters was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 266 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 166 rushing yards in four consecutive games.
Jayden Blackburn
| 10/31/25 vs Paradise | 9 |
| 10/24/25 vs Willows | 5 |
| 10/17/25 @ East Nicolaus | 9 |
| 10/03/25 @ Colusa | 6 |
| 09/26/25 vs Durham | 9 |
| + 6 more games |
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Winters' defense and their six sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Jayden Blackburn and Jake Woods, who racked up 5.5 sacks between them. Blackburn has been hot for a while, having also posted five or more total tackles the last 11 times he's played.
Meanwhile, Pierce hadn't done well against Durham recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The Bears blew past the Trojans 24-0. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Bears' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 256th, while the Trojans are ranked 587th).
Pierce's win came from a few key players Winters will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Nate Macintosh, who rushed for 103 yards and one score on only nine carries. He got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 64 yards. Austin Jorge was another key player, rushing for 35 yards and one TD.
Winters' record is now 8-1. As for Pierce, their record now sits at 9-0.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest: Winters has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 381.4 total yards per game. It's a different story for Pierce, though, as they've been averaging only 249 total yards. Will Winters be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will the Bears flip the script?
Winters took their victory against Pierce in their previous meeting back in November of 2024 by a conclusive 24-0 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Warriors since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
