Football Preview: Tulare Western Mustangs vs. Tulare Union The Tribe
Tulare Western is 2-8 against Tulare Union since November of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Tulare Western Mustangs will take on the Tulare Union The Tribe at 6:30 p.m. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
If Tulare Union heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Tulare Western took over last week. Tulare Western came out on top against Lemoore by a score of 14-7 on Friday.
Malachi Ficher was the offensive standout of the contest as he picked up 30 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He didn't just play on offense: he also defended two passes and snagged an interception. Tulare Western also got a significant boost from Mikey Johnson, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 89 yards.
Tulare Western wouldn't let Lemoore keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Tulare Western can thank Devin Hicks and Jayden Steverson for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, Tulare Union didn't have too much trouble with Dinuba on Thursday as they won 43-29. Given the The Tribe's advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 100th, while the Emperors are ranked 462nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of Tulare Union's victory came down to the chemistry between Jordan Crisp and his top target Josiah Orosco. Crisp threw for 204 yards and four touchdowns while completing 73.3% of his passes while Orosco rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries.
Tulare Western's win bumped their record up to 7-2. As for Tulare Union, they pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.
Tulare Western lost to Tulare Union on the road by a decisive 43-28 margin in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Can Tulare Western 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
