Football Preview: Moriarty Pintos vs. St. Pius X Sartans
The Moriarty Pintos will head out on the road to face off against the St. Pius X Sartans at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Moriarty's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Shiprock 54-0 on the road. The Pintos pushed the score to 48-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Chieftains had no chance of recovering from.
Moriarty found their leader in underclassman Mateo Manley, who rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown. Manley got the majority of those yards when he took off on a run and that went for an incredible70 yards. Another player making a difference was Caedon Kamplain, who rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Moriarty was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 357 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since was before the start of last season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for St. Pius X, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Saturday. They breezed by Grants at home to the tune of 40-7 on Thursday. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Sartans as it put an end to their four-game losing streak dating back to last season.
A big part of the victory came down to the chemistry between Isaiah Carpenter and his top target Cayl Cox-Liggins. Carpenter threw for 251 yards and four touchdowns while Cox-Liggins picked up 120 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Cox-Liggins also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, making a tackle and defending a pass in addition to snagging an interception.
St. Pius X's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Curtis Flakes III, Hershul Olloway Jr., and Cox-Liggins picked up one apiece. Flakes III's also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, making a tackle and defending three passes in addition to snagging an interception.
Moriarty's win ended a three-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-0. As for St. Pius X, the victory also got them back to even at 1-1.
Moriarty came up short against St. Pius X in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 24-14. Can Moriarty avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
