Football Preview: Pebble Hills Spartans vs. Coronado Thunderbirds
The Pebble Hills Spartans will play host again on Friday to welcome the Coronado Thunderbirds, where kickoff is scheduled at 7:00 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Pebble Hills came up short against Cleveland last Friday, falling 49-27. While losing is never fun, the Spartans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 364th in Texas, while the Storm are ranked third in New Mexico).
Pebble Hills might have lost, but man, Zereian Quarles was a machine: he rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry. Quarles was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 52 yards. Another player making a difference was Joe Fernandez, who rushed for 29 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, after a string of seven wins dating back to last season, Coronado's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They fell just short of Franklin by a score of 16-13. The defeat continues a trend for the Thunderbirds in their matchups with the Cougars: they've now lost seven in a row.
Despite the loss, Coronado got top-tier performance from Ben Wilson, who rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.8 yards per carry, and also threw for 170 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave Wilson a new career-high in rushing yards.
Pebble Hills' defeat dropped their record down to 1-3. As for Coronado, their loss was their first of the season and makes their record 3-1.
Pebble Hills was able to grind out a solid victory over Coronado when the teams last played back in September of 2023, winning 38-25. Will Pebble Hills repeat their success, or does Coronado have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
