Football Preview: Pioneer Diamondbacks vs. Mission Veterans Memorial Patriots
Pioneer and Mission Veterans Memorial are an even 4-4 against one another since October of 2014, but not for long. The Pioneer Diamondbacks will square off against the Mission Veterans Memorial Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 837 yards in their previous games.
Last Friday, Pioneer didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Sharyland, but they still walked away with a 33-27 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Diamondbacks.
It was another big night for William Goodloe, who rushed for 202 yards and a touchdown while picking up 12.6 yards per carry, and also threw for 154 yards and three touchdowns while completing 81.3% of his passes. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Matthew Maldonado was in the mix too, providing Pioneer with two touchdowns.
Pioneer was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 277 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Sharyland only rushed for 30.
One reason for the win was Pioneer's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Kaleb Hernandez and Irving Garcia, who racked up four sacks between them. Jaykob Mendez was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making eight total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Mission Veterans Memorial). They blew past Roma 35-14 on Friday.
Mission Veterans Memorial's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Roman Reyna, who threw for 269 yards and four touchdowns. Alejandro Garza helped Reyna out on the ground, rushing for 96 yards on only eight carries, while also catching a touchdown.
Mission Veterans Memorial's win ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 2-7. As for Pioneer, their record is now 6-3.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Pioneer has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 208.3 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Mission Veterans Memorial, though, as they've been averaging only 76.4. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Pioneer took their victory against Mission Veterans Memorial when the teams last played back in October of 2023 by a conclusive 56-36. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Mission Veterans Memorial's Braden Luedeker, who threw for 262 yards and five touchdowns, and also rushed for 184 yards on only ten carries. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Pioneer to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
