Football Preview: Morro Bay Pirates vs. Atascadero Greyhounds
The Morro Bay Pirates will play host again on Friday to welcome the Atascadero Greyhounds, where kickoff is scheduled at 7:00 p.m. Morro Bay knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past four contests -- so hopefully Atascadero likes a good challenge.
Morro Bay is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They came out on top against Reedley by a score of 34-26. Morro Bay pushed the score to 34-13 by the end of the third, a deficit Reedley cut but never quite recovered from.
Sands Dougherty was his usual excellent self, throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns while completing 80.6% of his passes. His passing production has been exceptional as that marked his eighth straight game with at least 309 passing yards.
Meanwhile, Atascadero earned a 21-14 win over Liberty on Friday.
Atascadero found their leader in sophomore Michael Trejo, who rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries, and also threw for 176 yards and a touchdown while completing 87.5% of his passes. Another player making a difference was Joseph Hyde, who rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
Atascadero pushed their record up to 6-5 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 27.7 points per game. As for Morro Bay, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-6 record this season.
The upcoming match will be a clash of competing strengths. Morro Bay has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 310 passing yards per game. Atascadero, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 199.6 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Morro Bay took their win against Atascadero in their previous matchup back in October by a conclusive 54-34. Does Morro Bay have another victory up their sleeve, or will Atascadero turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
