Preview: Le Grand Bulldogs vs. Orestimba Warriors
Le Grand is 2-7 against Orestimba since October of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Le Grand Bulldogs will face off against the Orestimba Warriors at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Le Grand sitting on four straight wins and Orestimba on six.
Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Le Grand walked away with it. They were the clear victor by a 62-36 margin over Waterford. This was one game where the offenses had no trouble playing at a high level.
Diego Martinez and Alexis Granados were among the main playmakers for Le Grand as the former threw for 222 yards and six touchdowns on only 18 passes and the latter rushed for 208 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 13.0 yards per carry. Granados was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 66 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Grant Richardson, who picked up 54 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Orestimba can now show off six landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. They blew past Highlands 54-7 at home. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as Orestimba just coasted through the last quarter.
Juan Esquivez was his usual excellent self, rushing for 116 yards and five touchdowns on only seven carries. Esquivez hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for six straight games. Jacob Mar got in on the action as well, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Another reason for the win was Orestimba's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Devon Bell was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up four sacks himself.
Le Grand is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season. As for Orestimba, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-3.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Friday's game as the two teams haven't had much trouble getting there this season. Le Grand commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 4.9 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like Orestimba struggles in that department as they've been even better at 5.8 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Friday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other football content.
Le Grand came up short against Orestimba in their previous meeting back in September, falling 49-36. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Orestimba's Esquivez, who rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 8.6 yards per carry. Now that Le Grand knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
