Preview: Granite Hills Cougars vs. Barstow Aztecs
Granite Hills has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge The Barstow Aztecs at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in California (Granite Hills is ranked 223rd, while Barstow is ranked 218th).
Granite Hills put the finishing touches on their fifth blowout victory of the season two weeks ago. They breezed by Victor Valley at home to the tune of 47-14. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Granite Hills had established a 20 point advantage.
It was another big night for Kameron Smith, who rushed for 289 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 12.6 yards per carry, and also caught a touchdown. Smith really tore up the turf during one magnificent 82-yard run. Sayani Long also helped out as he racked up 137 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Barstow had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 14-12 win over Silverado.
One reason for the win was Barstow's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Drelyn Brown and Samuelu Tofaeono who racked up 4.5 sacks between them.
Granite Hills' victory was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 7-2. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 0-9 Silverado and 4-5 Adelanto (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 38.9% over those games). As for Barstow, their win bumped their record up to 7-2.
Thursday's game might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Granite Hills has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 274.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Barstow struggles in that department as they've been averaging 231.2 per game. It's looking like Thursday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Granite Hills couldn't quite finish off Barstow in their previous matchup back in September of 2022 and fell 41-38. Can Granite Hills avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
