Football Preview: Highland Bulldogs vs. Lancaster Eagles
Highland is 9-0 against Lancaster since September of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Highland Bulldogs will square off against the Lancaster Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a five-game winning streak alive.
Last Friday, Highland was fully in charge, breezing past Antelope Valley 49-7 on the road. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 266th, while the Antelopes are ranked 698th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Justin Wyatt Jr., who threw for 269 yards and five touchdowns on only 16 passes, and also rushed for 55 yards and two touchdowns. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 3.1 passing touchdowns per game. Demond Blanchard also helped with three touchdowns in total.
Highland wouldn't let Antelope Valley keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Highland can thank Jayden Carrillo and Dallas Peoples for forcing both of them. Peoples also set a new season high mark in total tackles with nine. Another thorn in Antelope Valley's side was Viliami Fatanitavake, who made 14 total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Lancaster got themselves on the board against Knight on Friday, but Knight never followed suit. They took their matchup at home with ease, bagging a 36-0 victory over the Hawks. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four contests by 22 points or more this season.
Jacob Walker continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 184 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries. He really tore up the turf during one magnificent 70-yard run. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayson Wilson, who rushed for 20 yards and a touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Lancaster was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 252 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 164 rushing yards in eight consecutive matches.
Highland's record now sits at 5-3. As for Lancaster, their record now sits at 6-2.
Highland beat Lancaster 33-26 in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Highland since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
