Football Preview: Lakeside Lancers vs. Hillcrest Trojans
The Lakeside Lancers's homestand will continue as they prepare to take on the Hillcrest Trojans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Lakeside came up short against Arlington last Friday, falling 43-19.
Loss or not, Lakeside got some senior leadership from Edgar Barba and Joaquin Guerrero Iii. Barba picked up 158 receiving yards and a touchdown, while Guerrero Iii. threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hillcrest). They breezed by La Sierra at home to the tune of 56-0 on Friday. Given the Trojans' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 328th, while the Eagles are ranked 817th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of the win came down to the chemistry between Matthew Ramos and his top target Julian Sandoval. Ramos threw for 174 yards and four touchdowns on only nine passes while Sandoval picked up 141 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Alfredo Vences helped Ramos out on the ground, rushing for 134 yards on only ten carries.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Hillcrest was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 301 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in seven consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Hillcrest's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Eli Trejo and Nicholas Bernal.
Lakeside's defeat was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 0-3. As for Hillcrest, their victory bumped their record up to 3-1.
Lakeside took a serious blow against Hillcrest when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 42-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Vences, who rushed for 72 yards and three touchdowns on only seven carries. Now that Lakeside knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
