Preview: Mission Oak Hawks vs. Dinuba Emperors
Mission Oak has enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against The Dinuba Emperors at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in California (Mission Oak is ranked 287th, while Dinuba is ranked 285th).
Mission Oak pushed their score all the way to 34 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They were just a hair shy of victory and fell 35-34 to Hanford.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Daniel Gonzalez, who threw for 238 yards and four touchdowns. Cameron Azevedo was another key contributor, picking up 54 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, after only 12 points in their last contest, Dinuba made sure to put some points up on the board against Tulare Union on Friday. Dinuba walked away with a 35-28 win over Tulare Union.
Julian Ramirez and Diego Tuttle were among the main playmakers for Dinuba as the former rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns and the latter rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Dinuba also got a significant boost from Matthew Guido, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 81 yards.
Mission Oak has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-5 record this season. As for Dinuba, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
Things could have been worse for Mission Oak, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 38-21 loss to Dinuba when the teams last played back in October of 2022. Can Mission Oak avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
