Football Preview: Murrieta Mesa Rams vs. King Wolves
The Murrieta Mesa Rams will head out to challenge the King Wolves at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Murrieta Mesa will be hoping to continue their four-game streak of scoring more points each contest than the last.
Murrieta Mesa's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They claimed a resounding 70-0 victory over Corona at home. That looming 70-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Rams yet this season.
Artyon Celestine continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 139 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries. Murrieta Mesa is undefeated when Celestine posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 1-4 otherwise. Trey Gamble Jr. was another key player, throwing for 174 yards and three touchdowns on only ten passes.
Murrieta Mesa wouldn't let Corona keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Murrieta Mesa can thank Cody Morin and Jesse Wilhite for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, King scored first but ultimately less than Temecula Valley in their match on Friday. They and the Golden Bears were almost perfectly matched up, but they suffered a 24-23 loss. While the Wolves didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Golden Bears 3-0 in the first quarter.
King might have lost, but man, Noah Cuenca was a machine: he threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns. The dominant performance also gave Cuenca a new career-high in rushing yards. A healthy portion of that aerial production (118 yards to be exact) went to Derek Conn, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Even if they lost, King's defense still kept up the pressure with five sacks. Andrew Dixon was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up fourhimself. Those four sacks set a new season-high mark for him.
The win got Murrieta Mesa back to even at 4-4. As for King, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-2.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Murrieta Mesa has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 155.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like King struggles in that department as they've been averaging 157.8. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Murrieta Mesa strolled past King when the teams last played back in October of 2023 by a score of 31-14. The rematch might be a little tougher for Murrieta Mesa since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
