Football Preview: Marquez Gladiators vs. Santee Falcons
The Marquez Gladiators's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Santee Falcons at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Marquez was able to grind out a solid victory over Dr. Maya Angelou Community, taking the game 18-7.
Joshua Ayala was his usual excellent self, rushing for 150 yards and three touchdowns. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 131 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Another reason for the win was Marquez's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Elyjah Staples was especially locked on to Dr. Maya Angelou Community's QB and sacked him three times. Marquez got some further help from Horacio Barcos: he picked up a sack and made ten total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Marquez was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 232 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 201 rushing yards in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Santee). They claimed a resounding 55-22 win over Hollywood on the road. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Falcons considering their seven-point performance the contest before.
Marquez pushed their record up to 4-2 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. As for Santee, the win snapped their losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 2-4 record.
Marquez and Santee were neck-and-neck in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, but Marquez came up empty-handed after a 28-27 loss. Can Marquez avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
