Football Preview: Escondido Cougars vs. Valley Center Jaguars
Escondido is 0-10 against Valley Center since October of 2014 but things could change on Friday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when Cougars challenges the Valley Center Jaguars at 7:00 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Friday.
Escondido's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They took their game at home with ease, bagging a 40-0 win over Escondido Charter. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Cougars just coasted through the last quarter.
A big part of Escondido's victory came down to the chemistry between Caden Thompson and his top target Josh Gonzales. Thompson threw for 328 yards and six touchdowns while completing 74.1% of his passes while Gonzales picked up 206 receiving yards and five touchdowns. With that strong performance, Gonzales is now averaging an impressive 116 receiving yards per game. A healthy portion of that aerial production (91 yards to be exact) also went to Ezekiel McIntyre, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Escondido didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Zane Villanueva.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Valley Center at home against Vista on Friday as the squad secured a 56-0 win. The contest marked the Jaguars' most dominant victory of the season.
Valley Center got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Braylon Mitchell out in front who threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns while completing 90% of his passes. What's more, Mitchell also racked up five rushing yards, the mosthe's had since back in October of 2023. Bear Morales was another key rusher, rushing for 71 yards and three touchdowns.
Escondido's victory ended a five-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 4-2. As for Valley Center, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Escondido has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 164 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Valley Center struggles in that department as they've been averaging 150. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Escondido ended up a good deal behind Valley Center in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, losing 28-13. Thankfully for Escondido, Kevin Garcia (who picked up 98 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 43 yards and a touchdown) 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
