Football Preview: Murrieta Valley Nighthawks vs. Oaks Christian Lions
Two dominant backs in Dorian Hoze and Deshonne Redeaux are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Murrieta Valley Nighthawks will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Oaks Christian Lions at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Murrieta Valley is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 49-28 margin over Los Alamitos. The Nighthawks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five games by 21 points or more this season.
Murrieta Valley had a senior duo take command as Bear Bachmeier rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries and Hoze rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Bachmeier a new career-high in rushing yards.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Murrieta Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 373 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 203 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Oaks Christian faced San Juan Hills in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Oaks Christian strolled past San Juan Hills with points to spare, taking the game 35-21. The score was all tied up 7-7 at the break, but the Lions were the better team in the second half.
Redeaux was his usual excellent self, rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Trey Towns Jr. was another key player, having thrown for 250 yards and two touchdowns.
Oaks Christian's defense stepped up as well, laying out Timmy Herr. four times. In that department, Hayden Lowe was the leader with three sacks. Oaks Christian got some further help from Davon Benjamin: he forced a fumble and made seven total tackles.
Oaks Christian is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 30.1 points per game. As for Murrieta Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 10-2.
Murrieta Valley won a match that couldn't have been any closer when the teams last played back in September of 2019, slipping by Oaks Christian 39-38. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Oaks Christian's Jameson Wang, who threw for 292 yards and four touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Murrieta Valley to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
