Football Preview: Western Pioneers vs. Huntington Beach Oilers
The Western Pioneers will play host again on Friday to welcome the Huntington Beach Oilers, where kickoff is scheduled at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Thursday, in a tight match that could have gone either way, Western made off with a 36-35 win over Trabuco Hills.
Western had a senior duo take command as Makhai Hayes rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns and Jj Amezcua picked up 91 receiving yards and a touchdown. Western is 4-2 when Hayes posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 1-3 otherwise.
Meanwhile, Huntington Beach got the win against El Dorado last Thursday by a conclusive 49-28. With the Oilers ahead 29-7 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Huntington Beach found their leader in sophomore Brady Edmunds, who threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 13.3 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 40 yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards Edmunds has posted since back in August. Micah Riola was another key player, rushing for 92 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries.
Huntington Beach's record is now 6-4. As for Western, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.
Western was dealt a bruising 41-0 defeat at the hands of Huntington Beach when the teams last played back in August of 2021. Thankfully for Western, Aj Perez (who threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns on only 19 passes, and also punched in two rushing scores) 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
