Football Preview: Round Mountain Knights vs. Tonopah Muckers
Round Mountain is 1-7 against Tonopah since October of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Round Mountain Knights will head out to face off against the Tonopah Muckers at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Round Mountain is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nevada's top teams: Indian Springs, who was ranked 13th in their home state at the time (Round Mountain was ranked 11th). Round Mountain came out on top in a nail-biter against Indian Springs on Friday, sneaking past 14-12.
Blake Bullington was his usual excellent self, rushing for 246 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.5 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Tonopah had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30 points) and they went ahead and made it four back in September. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Tornadoes 66-0 at home. The Muckers' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
It was another big night for Dustin Otteson, who rushed for 144 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry, and also threw for 131 yards and three touchdowns on only nine passes. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 144 rushing yards dating back to last season. Adelaido Salgado was another key player, gaining 153 total yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Tonopah was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 317 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 272 rushing yards in four consecutive matches.
Round Mountain's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 3-2. As for Tonopah, their victory bumped their record up to 4-1.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Round Mountain has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 285.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Tonopah struggles in that department as they've been averaging 303.8. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Round Mountain took a serious blow against Tonopah in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 62-24. Can Round Mountain 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
